


Return Of The Stars

by KarsKars



Series: Star Child [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Culture, AlienKeith, Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Canon-Typical Violence, Druid Keith (Voltron), F/M, Fantastic Racism, Galaxy Garrison, Galra Keith (Voltron), Galra reveal, Gen, Gen Work, Gen fic except for pre established couples, Happy Ending, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Keith (Voltron), POV Kolton, Red Paladin Keith (Voltron), Rivalry, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-22 14:44:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 59,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22717693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarsKars/pseuds/KarsKars
Summary: Even with a new Emperor on the throne, Voltron's work is far from over. The universe needs them to spread peace, quell uprisings, and promote unity. But first, a threat to the Paladin's home world puts their loved ones in danger.Excerpt:She leaned angrily across the table, pointing a long bony finger in his direction as she spat her accusations. Kolt let out a huff of annoyance, the chances of Keith coming back were slim, he could easily place blame where it was due and the boy would likely never have to deal with it. But what if he did come back? Then the Garrison would be all over him and Kolt just couldn’t do that to the boy, it wasn’t worth the risk. Keith’s safety was far more important than his.“I ain’t telling you a damn thing.”
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Keith's Father/Krolia (Voltron), Matt/Romelle
Series: Star Child [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1445872
Comments: 58
Kudos: 198





	1. Meanwhile On Earth

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back! First chapter is POV Kolt before we get back into POV Keith. I'm not 100% sure how many chapters this one will be but I'm guesstimating 5 .. ish.
> 
> Enjoy!

Kolt watched as the ol’ girl vanished into the midday sky with a twinkle. One minute Blue was bursting through her rock fortress and the next she was scarin’ the pants of the Garrison senior command. He smiled fondly at the spot where she’d been, the last time his little boy had flown off in a spaceship he didn’t know if he’d ever seen him again. It never got any easier.

“Good luck, kiddo.” He whispered to the sky before beginning the treacherous descent down the crumbling Cliffside.

It took a good three hours before he made it back to the tiny one bedroom cabin, cursing the entire trek about how stupid it was he didn’t think to bring his hover bike along. Once back, Kolt immediately set to work disposing of any evidence pointing to that Shirogane kid having been a temporary houseguest. Clearing away the Garrison ration bar wrappers from the large boy with the headband, burning the prison rags Shirogane had been found in, and giving the whole place a quick once-over.

After all necessary precautions had been taken; Kolt settled in on the sofa, beer in hand, to watch the game. Colleen would be working in her botany labs ‘till round 7PM or so and it wasn’t like he could just leave her a voicemail. _‘Oh, hey there Colleen, don’t go freakin’ our er nothin’ but my alien son went and abducted yer daughter in a giant robotic cat.’_ Somehow he didn’t see that being very well received. Not to mention the absolute shit storm if the Garrison had bugged his phone.

With a dramatic groan he heaved himself off the couch during the first commercial break and proceeded to dismantle the phone, followed by the old CB radio which he doubted the diaper wearing, fresh-faced, baby Offers of the Garrison even knew how to operate. Frustratingly everything turned up clean, which only made him more suspicious that the bugs were just of a much higher quality. He plopped himself back down on the dusty ol’ couch when the commercial ended and started putting the various devices back together.

His peace and quiet lasted all of one evening before the pain-in-the-ass Garrison folks came a-knockin’. Grumbling profusely he made his way to the door, taking a quick peak out the window to gauge the situation before hand. _Shit._ There were damn near 20 of those fuckers out there. Beer still in hand, Kolt opened the door.

“What?” He grumbled to Iverson’s grouchy ass face.

“Kolton Kogane?”

“You know damn well who I am, Mitch.” The surly man scowled at him as best he could with only one functioning eye and Kolt tried his hardest to supressed a snicker. Keith packed one hell of a punch.

“That troublesome kid of yours home yet?” Iverson grumbled and now it was his turn to scowl. “Guess not. When he gets back you are to bring him in for interrogation.”

“He ain’t comin’ back and you know it. You saw that thing take off just as clearly as I did. How ‘bout we make a deal – first one to see him gets to be the one who gives him shit. Sound good?” he crossed his arms defiantly over his chest and Iverson furrowed his brow.

“You’ve been summoned to the compound for tomorrow at 1400 hours to discuss what you know with Admiral Sanda. Do not be late.” The military man commanded and Kolt rolled his eyes.

“Tell the ol’ bat I’ll be there.” He responded, shutting the front door on an incredibly annoyed Iverson and several young Officers struggling not to smirk.

He didn’t move for a while, even after he heard their vehicles leave. Kolt leaned against the heavy wooden door and stared into the small one bedroom cabin. With Keith gone it suddenly felt so empty. He’d always lived alone, with the exception of those 5 years Krolia had been on Earth. But ever since Keith had moved in permanently it just didn’t feel right anymore. He could handle the cabin being empty; it was the quiet that came with it that tore at his heart. God, Keith had been gone less than a day and he already missed the little shit.

The drawing of their family hanging on the wall between the bedroom and bathroom seemed to call out to him. It was one of the only things that managed to survive the fire that fateful night, having been hanging above his workbench in the shed at the time. Everything else, the carefully crafted documents from Krolia, the box full of family Polaroids he’d kept hidden under a floorboard, and all of Keith’s belongings (except his stuffed purple cat) had been destroyed by the Garrison. He’d been left with nothing but that picture to remember the family he’d been forced to say goodbye to. Now he found himself in same damn place: saying goodbye to his son while the Garrison prepared to destroy what was left of his life.

* * *

Though he’d slept for nearly 12 hours, Kolt didn’t feel rested in the slightest. Slowly rising from the bed he’d been sharing with Keith for the past several months, he made his way to the bathroom to take a much-needed shower. It had been quite the adjustment having to accommodate the boy in such a small space. For weekends it had been fine; he’d just curl up on the couch for two nights until heading back to his dorm at the Garrison. But once Keith got himself expelled, he’d had to move in permanently and the small size of Kolt’s cabin became painfully apparent.

Neither of them could sleep on that tattered old couch for months on end, and the bedroom was too damn small to accommodate a second bed, so they’d made do with his existing queen size. Not that it had really mattered; the kid didn’t take up much space or even move a muscle once asleep. It was like sleeping next to the dead.

But now the bed was empty and the cabin was still too quiet and he missed his kid dammit. Keith’s snippy little quips when Kolt would yell at him to get up. The weird way he’d flex his claws as he yawned even though they’d been filed down to the nail bed. The eerie glow of his eyes when he’d wake up in the night to get a drink of water. Huh, maybe he should think about getting a cat.

The shower helped to clear his head a little and he actually felt slightly more alert. Once that first cup of coffee hit his system he felt even better. Climbing onto his hover bike and rocketing into town, the promise of a good home cooked breakfast at the Holt’s was the only thing that drew him out of the house that early.

He’d grown closer to Colleen in the absence of Sam. She was a good woman with a big heart and a sound head on her shoulders. They’d gotten along swimmingly, especially after Keith and Katie became close friends, and even more so when the boy had come clean about his not-so-Human upbringing. The fact that Col didn’t immediately try dissecting him showed just how much she cared about Keith.

“Well, you’ve seen better days.” Was the greeting he received as he walked in the front door, though it had been delivered with a smile. He chuckled in return and took his usual spot at the small kitchen table. “Everything alright?” Again he said nothing, choosing instead to let the silence speak for itself until she was seated and ready to hear what he knew she wasn’t going to like. He took a deep breath and told her everything.

“So, let me get this straight.” She pointed her fork full of hash browns menacingly towards his face, some bits of food flying from the weaponized cutlery and landing on his plate. “You’re alien son crash-lands back on Earth to find some weapon created by a group of alien magicians, then my husband and son are abducted by an evil alien empire, and now my little Katie has been abducted by none other than you’re alien son.” Her calm, analytical, voice made the absurdity of the statement really stand out.

“Yep, that’s about the gist of it.” He took another swig of coffee, frowning when the mug turned up empty.

“There’s more in the pot.” She waved dismissively and he nodded, rising to walk his mug to the kitchen for a refill. “I want to talk to my daughter. I want to yell and cry and tell her I love her and then yell at her some more. Do you still have a way to reach them? Or did that special device leave the planet with Keith?”

“Nah, I still got it. But we can’t just be blastin’ out signals left, right, and centre. The more we send out, the more attention we draw to our little pocket of safety. Keith’s a good kid, them Marmora folks did a fine job raising him, if something’s the matter he’ll let us know.” Kolt placed a firm hand on the woman’s shoulder, squeezing gently, and her own hand came up to rest on his.

“My entire family is out there. These horrible – what were they called again? Galra? – stole my husband and son. And now my poor Katie is out there too. I don’t know how you deal with it Kolt, I really don’t.”

“Ahh, not all of ‘em Galra are bad, just that Empire of theirs. My wife, Krolia – the one you kept trying to invite for dinner – well, she’s Galra and my boy is half.” Colleen’s eyes flew wide at the revelation. “He was raised Galra and sees himself as one, but he’s a good kid, little rough around the edges but what do you expect from a boy who’s only half Human and was raised in space.” Though they both chuckled at that, the tension and permeating sense of loss weighed heavily between them. “He’ll take care of Katie. He cares for her as much as she cares for him and he wont let anything bad happen to her, I can promise you that.”

“Either Matt or Sam better be with her when she gets back, cause if that girl doesn’t come home with at least one of them she is grounded for eternity. If she thinks she can just go gallivanting off to space with some alien boy, she has another thing coming.” Kolt burst out into a sudden fit of laughter.

“Ahh shit, yer too much Col. I gotta get goin’ but if yer ever in need of some company just gimme a holler.” He smiled at her, turned to head out, but paused in the door for one last parting word. “If anyone’s gunna be finding Matt and Sammy it’ll be those two reckless kids. Keith’s a trained special ops space ninja and Katie managed to break into a secure military network. If anything, it’s the Galra who should be worried.”

* * *

The meeting with Sanda had gone about as well as he’d anticipated. Three hours of sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair alone in an interrogation room, staring at a two-way mirror while he waited for her to show up. Followed by another 5 hours of interrogations from various Officers, Commanders, and hell probably even the janitor before Sanda made her dramatic appearance. It was late, nearly 2200 hours by the time that ‘full-metal bitch’ showed up.

He heard that line in a movie once and thought it suited her, he’d been proved right when she sauntered in wearing the world’s deepest scowl and slapped a file down on the table between them. “ _Former_ Officer Kogane, its an absolute pleasure to see you again.” She spoke with cold authority and subtly masked hostility.

“Oh cut the shit, Ellen. What do you want from me?”

“That is not the way you address your superior officer, Kogane.”

“Dishonourable discharge, remember? You ain’t my superior anymore.” She scowled back at him, narrowing her eyes in a silent challenge. He stared back.

“Three Cadets are missing, Officer Shirogane was taken from isolation, and _former_ _Cadet_ Kogane was confirmed to be present for the security breach. What do you have to say to this?”

“Do you have proof of Keith’s involvement?” He crossed his arms defiantly over his chest and leaned back in the chair, letting it balance on two legs.

“We have several eye-witnesses that can place him at the scene.”

Kolt scoffed. “Eye-witness testimony is unreliable at best and you know it. A setup like what you had out there is guaranteed to be under constant surveillance. You catch him on camera? Get any actual proof he was there?”

“The intruder managed to avoid the camera’s line of sight as they broke into the quarantine tent. We have no way to know for certain that it was former Cadet Kogane, however we do have your distinct hover bike on camera as the escape vehicle. Our Officers chased the hover bike and we have video footage from their dashboard cameras of it fleeing the scene and evading Garrison command. It was either you or that son of yours, and I want to know right now who is responsible.”

She leaned angrily across the table, pointing a long bony finger in his direction as she spat her accusations. Kolt let out a huff of annoyance, the chances of Keith coming back were slim, he could easily place blame where it was due and the boy would likely never have to deal with it. But what if he did come back? Then the Garrison would be all over him and Kolt just couldn’t do that to the boy, it wasn’t worth the risk. Keith’s safety was far more important than his.

“I ain’t telling you a damn thing.”

* * *

Prison wasn’t so bad. He got three square meals a day access to a gym, hell if you considered fear of getting your ass kicked as motivation then he even had a personal trainer. The food was kinda shit but it was still marginally better than living off canned beans, beer, and coffee. His bed’s mattress was thin and the blankets were itchy, but they were cleaned on a regular basis and his cellmate was a nice enough dude. They got along pretty well actually.

His name was Geoff and he was a former construction worker who’d gone on a rampage, murdering his boss and a few of his co-workers before trying to hang himself in the house he was building. The police had already been called and they cut him down before he died but it was one hell of a story. Geoff was a good guy, a little scary sure, but he’d snapped from stress and otherwise seemed like a pretty chill dude. Though Kolt wasn’t going to push his luck.

After a few weeks Officer Warren had approached him about providing testimony in exchange for freedom. He’d declined and it became a weekly occurrence. Every Tuesday, like clockwork, Offer Warren would showup at the prison to request information regarding the disappearance of the three missing Cadets, the abduction of Officer Takeshi Shirogane, and the whereabouts of Keith. And every Tuesday, like clockwork, Kolt would stare at him in silence until the Officer gave up and walked away.

He felt bad for the guy, he knew he’d been involved with the Shirogane kid before he left on the Kerberos mission and it was cruel of Sanda to keep sending him. But if he wanted answers then Kolt was going to have to throw his own son under the bus and that wasn’t something he was going to do. It broke his heart to watch the dejected man leave each week and return looking slightly worse than he did previously.

“I just want some answers, please Mr. Kogane. I need to know what happened to Takeshi, where he is, if he’s all right, if he’s even still alive. _Please,_ I’m begging you.” It had been a total of 6 months now and the poor guy looked like he hadn’t slept a wink in that entire time. Finally, Kolt caved.

“I ain’t telling you this for Sanda’s benefit, understand?” He asked and the young man nodded eagerly, pushing his glasses up his nose and subconsciously leaning closer. Kolt took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. “If I tell you this, you’ll see to it that I am released and cleared of all charges?” Again, the young Officer nodded and slid the paperwork across the table for him to read over. He did, reading every little detail of the arrangement before finally signing his name at the bottom and passing it back to the Officer to sign. One of the guards came over and signed as a witness and Kolt whispered an apology under his breath to his son. God hope the boy never came back.

“My son, Keith, got close to Officer Shirogane during his time at the Garrison and even after he was expelled the two kept in close contact.”

“I’m aware.”

“Right, well – after the Kerberos mission went missing, he was convinced there was foul play involved and dedicated his time to researching the crash. When Shirogane came back in an alien spaceship, Keith begged me to help him rescue the young man. I brought him back to my cabin, cleaned up his injuries, and waited for the Garrison’s sedative to wear off. The three cadets showed up at some point, their curiosity getting the better of them, and the group headed off into the mountains in search of something called Voltron. Next thing I know a giant blue robot cat is leaping out of a mountain and my son is gone.” While it may have been heavily modified, Kolt tried his damnedest to stick as close to the truth as possible without giving too much away. He wanted it to seem like crazy circumstance, he didn’t want to place blame on Keith for any of it.

Officer Warren stared at him for a moment before deflating. He nodded and rose from his seat. “I’ll file this paper work and you should be released in approximately one month for you cooperation. Thank you Mr. Kogane.” He reached his hand out and Kolt clasped it tightly, giving a firm shake.

“What’s gunna happen if they ever come back?” He couldn’t resist, he had to know what the Garrison had planned if Keith ever returned.

“That’s for Admiral Sanda to decide.” He gave a solute, and swiftly left the premises.

* * *

“To freedom!” Colleen cheered, downing her shot of tequila and nearly falling off her chair in the process. Kolt laughed, his own inebriated brain making it difficult to maintain balance. He clinked his shot glass with her empty one and threw it back, the familiar burn in his throat soothing away the guilt that had riddled him for the past five weeks.

“To freedom.” He half-heartedly cheered as Colleen proceeded to refill their glasses for yet another round. The table was covered in spilt tequila, salt crystals, and lime rinds. He scanned the familiar setting of the Holt’s home, letting his eyes take in the changes from the past year. Two ‘in memoriam’ plaques hung over the fireplace, and a framed photo of Katie sat on the mantle between them. She tried to hide it but he could tell Colleen was barely holding on.

A particularly hard shove that should not have been possible given the tiny woman’s inability to even stand, had him nearly falling out of his seat. She’d somehow managed to not only get out of her chair, but actually walk around the table without stumbling. Her arms snaked around his neck and her cheek came to rest on his head where she planet a soft kiss in his hair.

“You’re a good man, Kolton. You really are. Stop beating yourself up.” After a minute she released him and stumbled her way over to the couch, ignoring the full shots she’d just poured for them. With a light chuckle he rose from the table, downed both of their shots, and grabbed the half empty bottle before collapsing down beside her. Colleen mumbled something incoherent about missing Sam and worrying about her kids. Kolt wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she lay her head down against his. “Sanks fer not sayin’ bout Katie.” She slurred, her tentative grip on consciousness slowly fading.

“Not my place. She’s a good kid and I’d hate to kill her future just to save my ass.”

“Mhm.” Was mumbled into the silence between them. “Yer not drive home kay?” He chuckled at her attempt to speak. “Stay in Matthew’s room.” Was the last thing she said before her entire body became heavy. With a groan, he pushed himself off the couch and placed the tequila bottle on the coffee table, scooped up his friend and carried her up the stairs. It was a struggle to say the least, his balance was severely compromised and the dead weight in his arms was not helping, but he eventually made it to the top landing.

Flicking on the lights, he carried Colleen into the master bedroom and laid her down on her bed, pulling back the covers and drawing them over her after a less than graceful fall to the pillow. He winced but when she didn’t stir he flicked off the lights and walked down the hall to Matt’s old room.

It was exactly the same as it had been before he’d left for Kerberos and in a moment of curiosity, he lifted the mattress to find exactly what he’d suspected: nudie mags. He felt a laugh bubble up, clearly Colleen hadn’t stepped foot in here since the boy left, holding it as a sort of shrine to her son. Suddenly Kolt felt as though he were intruding on the boy’s space by being in his room, so he returned the magazine to where he’d found it and made his way back down the stairs to crash on the couch.

* * *

This was hell; he’d never had a hangover this bad in his entire life. The familiar smell of sizzling bacon wafted from the kitchen and he all but floated from the living room couch over to the small dining table. With a groan he slumped into one of the hard wooden seats, his entire body objecting to the unforgiving furniture.

“You stubborn bastard, I told you to stay in Matthew’s room.” She chastised from the stove and his only reply was another groan, his aching head falling against the table with an audible thud. Colleen placed a steaming mug of black coffee on the table, just within reach, and it was soon accompanied by a small glass of orange juice and two Tylenol extra-strength pills. She patted his shoulder and returned with a plate of breakfast for each of them.

“Col, you’re a damn fine woman. Sammy is one lucky bastard.” Colleen let out a hearty laugh but it masked the hurt he knew was constantly there.

“Ain’t that the truth!” She said, mocking his thick Texas accent.

Breakfast went by in relative silence, both nursing hangovers strong enough to kill a weaker mortal. Somehow, Colleen seemed to handle herself just fine despite it, going about her routine as though nothing were wrong and he might have believed it if he hadn’t caught her puking in the bathroom an hour or so later.

After years spent drinking away his sorrows, Kolt had grown accustomed to functioning in this state and, though it had been quite a while since he’d had a drink, it was as like no time had passed. He took a shower, got dressed, said goodbye to a puking Colleen, and headed out to his cabin. His Captain hadn’t hesitated in the slightest to give him his old job back and he needed to be at the fire hall for noon to sign some paperwork and go over the safety procedures once again. For the first time in a while Kolt was actually looking forward to getting his old life back.

* * *

It had been a particularly stressful day and he returned to the fire hall more exhausted than usual. They’d managed to save all of the residents but a few pets were lost in the blaze and some little girl had balled her eyes out into his chest over her now very dead goldfish. The small apartment building caught fire after one of the more senior residents tried to microwave popcorn and hit 20 minutes instead of 2, causing a fire that spread through the old building at an alarming rate. Most of the inhabitants were Garrison families, people who had spouses that worked at the Galaxy Garrison either as a scientist, military official, educator, or any other position. Needless to say he was glad to be out of there and finally able to take off his gear and shower away the soot.

Today was Keith’s birthday and his little boy would be turning 19. Kolt had asked for the day off but with the sudden blaze it became an all hands on deck situation. Now home, he collapsed onto his couch with a stack of pancakes in honour of his son’s favourite Earth meal. He’d toyed with the idea of messaging the boy over that Blade of Marmora com he had but didn’t know if this would count as an emergency. Instead, he sang happy birthday to no one and ate his breakfast food before calling it a night.

The next morning he crawled out of bed and made a simple breakfast before heading to the fire hall. It had been almost a year since Keith left in the Blue Lion and he wondered how the boy was doing. What changes had been taking place out there beyond the stars, if he was taking good care of Katie, if he’d managed to find Sam, if he’d met up with Matt yet, and how in the hell Krolia was doing. _God_ he missed her, he missed the way her claws would tap on the counter as she waited impatiently for the microwave but then could turn around and stay completely still for hours on end when she hunted. He missed the way she would make strange little sounds that Keith would mimic but when Kolt tried he could never quite do them right. He missed the way she would be endlessly fascinated by the tiniest things and impossible to impress by others.

He missed how smooth her rich purple skin was, the softness of her thick two-toned hair, and the rush of knowing she could rip him to pieces if she really wanted to. The way she could switch on a dime from doting, cooing, squishy mom mode into lethal, highly trained, covert ops, space ninja mode. The jump between soft and predatory was alarming – and sexy as hell. Yup, he missed her more than he’d ever thought possible. The worst was that all those pictures he had of her were gone from the damned fire so he had to work with was what his memory could serve up. Which, let’s be honest, was pretty damn good.

He shook his head to clear the distracting thoughts from his mind and started cleaning off the truck and their equipment from yesterday’s blaze. He’d continue this tangent when he got home, but until then he needed to focus.

* * *

A few more months went by. The Christmas holidays and New Years celebrations had been spent with Colleen; both drinking themselves into a stupor as they moaned about missing their families together. Colleen had set a place for Sam, Matt, Katie, and even Keith at the dinner table along side them and nearly burst into tears on New Years Eve, unable to face another year without her husband and children. Not that Kolt was doing much better, he missed his strange little alien family more than anything and the holidays did nothing to help. All the happy families caroling and shopping for presents were nothing more than constant reminders that the two people he loved more than anything weren’t there to celebrate with him. It was like those first few years after Krolia left all over again.

But now it was late January and for some strange reason he had been called by Sanda herself to meet at the Garrison bright and early that morning. There had been some weird signals popping up on the radios lately, but he hadn’t thought much of it; living in the desert meant spotty connections at best. Colleen had been suspiciously absent for the past two weeks; rarely home, constantly at the Garrison, and working all hours of the day into the night.

When he arrived at the Galaxy Garrison it was like walking into a pressure cooker. Everyone was on high alert and he had to pass through several extra security checkpoints before entering. Officers and Commanders buzzed around the grounds, not a Cadet in sight, and the hairs on the back of his head started to rise in suspicion. What in the holy hell was going on here?

He made his way to the boardroom as Sanda had instructed him and a young Officer stopped him at the door, popping his head in to alert her of Kolt’s presence before ushering him inside. The room was just as tense as the rest of the base, and the Garrison personnel seated around the large table turned to watch him in unison, staring as he took the only empty seat. He looked around and recognized many of the faces there.

Seated at the head of the table was Sanda with Iverson at her right, Officer Warren was there, as was Dos Santos, Ryu, and Harris. Two faces he didn’t expect were Deborah Harrison and Colleen Holt. He gave the latter a puzzled look and watched as unbridled fear flashed briefly in her eyes before being steeled away.

“Kolton Kogane.” Sanda commanded. “I think there are some details you have not been forthcoming with.” Her accusation was clearly not up for debate as she scowled heavily and the entirety of the room’s gaze fell on him once again. “Tell us the truth about your ‘son’ immediately before I have you charged with treason.”

“Why don’t ya’ll tell me what in the hell is going on?” He countered and an enraged Sanda slammed her hands on the table as she stood to tower over him. It was Debbie who spoke up, holding his gaze with an intensity he hadn’t expected.

“Do you remember the Social & Cultural Studies project I assigned where the students were to create an alien culture and language?” He nodded along, not liking where this was going. “Well, when our communications experts ran out of ways to try and understand the language used in a strange series of signals we picked up, they opened the recordings to other personnel to try and decipher. I recognized a few of the words from the project that Keith had submitted. His alien language matched up perfectly with the signal, allowing us to translate it.”

Kolt’s face went pale; he knew that damned project would comeback to bite him in the ass. “So, my question for you is simple.” Sanda took back control of the floor, directing his attention to her once again as she punctuated her words with clear hostility. “How did your son hand in a project with a REAL alien language? Where is he? What really happened to Officer Shirogane, Cadet McClain, Cadet Gunderson, and Cadet Garret? What are you not telling us Kogane?”

Was laughter the best way to respond? No, probably not, but the Human brain has a weird way of handling stress and Kolt couldn’t help the sudden outburst. After regaining some semblance of control, he managed to pull himself together. “Where do ya’ll want me to start?” He asked and Sanda leveled her hateful glare at him.

“Try the beginning.”

* * *

Their defences just weren’t strong enough, Sanda had deployed the first wave of MFE fighters but they had been vaporized almost immediately after take off by that damn laser. Earth wasn’t prepared for an attack like this. Their weapons weren’t powerful enough, their tech wasn’t advanced enough, their shields weren’t strong enough, and nothing they did seemed to even make a dent in the space ship’s defences. They were sitting ducks about to be cooked and there was not a damned thing any of them could do about it.

“SEND THE NEXT WAVE!” Sanda ordered and Kolt nearly lost his mind.

“Are you crazy? You’re sending them into certain death! If they go out there they’re just going to be incinerated like the others!” He screamed at her in the war room. The Admiral had already threatened him several times already but if Earth was destroyed it wouldn’t make a difference or not if he was considered insubordinate or a declared a war criminal.

She stared him down some more before reiterating her order and Kolt bolted from the room, rushing down to the hangars as fast as possible to stop those planes from taking off. He vaguely heard her scream after him about being court-martialed but if she thought he gave a damn she had another thing coming.

The hangar ceiling was riddled with holes from where those alien weapons had shot through the metal. He’d recognized their fighter pods immediately, having spent years helping Krolia repair one of them. Officer Warren was climbing into the last plane still in the hangar when he arrived and Kolt nearly shouted his voice raw trying to get the young man’s attention over the roar of the engines. He couldn’t just watch wave after wave of talented young pilots be sent like lambs to the slaughter, he _had_ to do something.

The Officer climbed back out of his plane, meeting the out of breath fire fighter at the wing. “Did our orders change?” He asked with confusion.

“No, but Sanda’s an idiot and you’re going to get yourself killed.”

“I have my orders, sir. I have to follow them.”

“How about a slight detour first?”

“What did you have in mind?”

* * *

He ran through the Garrison’s halls back to Sanda’s war room and back to the ever-increasing tension that hung in the air. “KOGANE! Where the hell did you go? What do you think you’re doing?” She yelled at him when the young Officer used his security clearance to open the door, the two of them rushing inside.

“I had Officer Warren take me to my cabin, there was something I needed to get.”

“This better be good.” She seethed.

“It is.”

* * *

“Commander Sendak, sir. We’ve intercepted an outgoing signal from the Earthling’s base.”

“What does it say?” He snapped in return, why wouldn’t his useless General lead with the content of the message.

“We are unable to decipher it as we believe it to have been sent on the traitorous Blade of Marmora’s signals. The message is encrypted, sir. What are your orders?”

“We wait. The Humans clearly know more than they are letting on. I guarantee that message is a distress call to Voltron. Setup a scout on one of the outer planets, and have them monitor the system for incoming ships. We’ll have Commander Throk’s fleet intercept their saviours then we destroy what’s left of their planet while the Paladins watch.”

The General gave a solute before he rushed from the bridge to deliver the orders and Sendak sneered at the images on the screen. A single ship had departed the hangar, long after the others, and flown into the desert instead of trying to attack. He’d ignored it thinking it was inconsequential, but now he wasn’t so sure.

Sendak turned to the sentry standing behind him. “Bring me the prisoner.” He commanded and the machine saluted in response. It was time to end these retched Humans, once and for all.


	2. A Not So Warm Welcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emperor Thace theorized that Throk would be setup as a distraction, most likely waiting at the edge of Earth’s system to ‘welcome’ the Paladins home. He was proven right the moment the first ships passed through the wormhole and were immediately attacked by the Commander’s waiting fleet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> __________  
>  ~~~~~  
> __________
> 
> The line break above denotes a POV change.

With the Castle of Lions stationed on Altea, Voltron and the fleet from Emperor Thace had to take two wormholes instead of one. The Castle could only open and close wormholes that directed to it, meaning they needed to wormhole to Altea before they could wormhole to Earth. It was a nuisance, a nuisance that wasted several valuable vargas.

Pidge was vibrating in their seat with anxiety, desperate to get back to Earth and save their father. Matt absolutely refused to stay behind, even swearing at one of the Empire Generals who dared to suggest that not all of the Humans return. Lance and Hunk were equally excited and nervous, but mostly they were concerned about the wellbeing of their home and families. And Shiro was being particularly hard to read which was frustrating Keith to no end.

The worst part of the whole thing was that they had absolutely no idea what they were heading into. After that initial contact with his dad had ended, they hadn’t been able to establish another connection. There was no way to know if the attacks had resumed or if the false surrender had been accepted. They were essentially flying in blind.

As the wormhole closed behind the last cruiser, Keith watched a small Altean transport pod drop from the Black Lion and fly towards the Castle. Allura intended to join them on their journey, but she needed to ensure enough of her essence was left behind so that someone named Bandor could facilitate their return. Keith didn’t understand why the Castle of Lions couldn’t just accompany them to Earth. Why not use the immense power of the Altean ship to transport them and protect the Garrison with its particle barrier? But _nooooooo_ the Princess insisted that it remain on Altea as a symbol of stability for the Coalition; something about having a ‘Central Command’ of their own.

Pidge’s voice came over the coms pulling him from his tangent and reminding them all of their delicate time frame. The antsy Green Paladin was demanding to leave and it was only a matter of time before their Blue and Yellow teammates jumped on the anxiety train as well. Shiro called over the lines in a calming tone, urging the younger Paladins to breathe and be patient as Allura prepared for departure. At his command, they went over the plan of attack once again. Keith noticed that it immediately took the other’s minds off their stress, redirecting the nervous energy into something more productive. Shiro really was a natural leader; it was inspiring.

After the call from his father, they had spent almost 2 vargas going over their strategies and, in the end, Keith was proud to say it was entirely brilliant! Shiro and Allura wanted to take Sendak by surprise but they all knew their arrival would be expected. The solution was to hide Voltron from view, however the Lions were larger than any of the ships Thace could supply, meaning they couldn’t hide them inside a cruiser. It had been Lance who suggested using the cloaking capability Pidge added to the Green Lion and replicating it for use on the others. The entire table had gawked at him and the Blue Paladin beamed with confidence at his moment of brilliance.

Matt and Regris spent the rest of the quintant helping Pidge upgrade and adjust their cloaking device, modifying it to integrate seamlessly with the slightly varying quintessence of the four remaining Lions. The final result was a cloaking capability so advanced that not even their com signals could be picked up while in stealth mode. It was truly impressive work.

Lance and Hunk had spent the quintant doing … something. Honestly he hadn’t been listening when they announced their plans. All he knew was that it involved food goo and Kaltenecker, which – yeah his curiosity was peaked the moment the doors closed and Keith realized he should have joined them. Instead he’d been left behind, ending up stuck in the war room with Shiro, Krolia, Thace, Allura, and the various Commanders present. They discussed their agreed upon plans, as well as what would happen in regards to Earth after Sendak’s defeat. Allura wanted to welcome the Human’s home planet into her coalition, but ultimately that decision wasn’t up to the few Earthlings present. With Sendak attacking Earth, Keith didn’t know how welcome the citizens of the Galra Empire would be. Not very, he assumed.

Suddenly the possibility of being rejected by the Humans flew to the forefront of his mind. What would they think of a half Human, half Galra hybrid? He let out a heavy breath and decided to just deal with everything as it came up, there was no sense in stressing out about something he had no control over. Ultimately he didn’t plan to stay on Earth long anyways.

The return of the Altean transport pod was their signal to activate the new cloaking device and Keith watched as Black swallowed up the pod before the Lion promptly vanished from sight. The others followed, first Blue, then Yellow, and finally Green as their upgrades hid them from all methods of detection. Red offered a slight shimmering glow on the screen in the colour of each of her sibling and the others did the same, allowing the Paladins to locate one another.

Phase One was simple: the Empire ships would rush through the wormhole with the cloaked Voltron Lions hiding amongst them. Commander Throk had failed to report back to Central after the Kral Zera and it was now assumed that his fleet had moved to join Sendak’s. Emperor Thace theorized that the former would be setup as a distraction, most likely waiting at the edge of Earth’s system to ‘welcome’ the Paladins home. He was proven right the moment the first ships passed through the wormhole and were immediately attacked by the Commander’s waiting fleet.

Keith whipped Red sharply to the side, narrowly avoiding a blast aimed at one of their cruisers behind him. The Paladins had been given strict orders not to engage lest they blow their element of surprise. He followed the shimmery outline of Black on his screen, watching the others fall in line as they pushed their way through the quickly growing debris field. Keith sent a silent plea to his ancestors, asking them to watch over those who had volunteered for this mission, and felt the shock-wave rock his Lion as one of the ships exploded. A firm hand squeezed his shoulder and he looked up into his mother’s determined but loving eyes.

Voltron glided their way past the vaguely familiar planets of Earth’s system. First a blue one, then another, followed by the one with all those pretty rings he had admired the last time he’d approached. This time he knew their names: Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn.

“ _If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it. If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it. Don’t be mad once you see that he want it. If you like it then you shoulda -”_

 _“LANCE!”_ Shiro yelled over their coms, his exasperated tone making Keith snicker. “ _Must you?”_

 _“Sorry, Shiro. Just trying to lighten the mood.”_ The Cuban responded. Hunk muttered something about appreciating the effort but Pidge threatened to kill his com if Lance sang on a mission one more time. Keith merely sat back in his pilot seat with a grin on his face; he was going to miss this.

If he was being honest, the knowledge of how desperate the other Paladins were to go home had been weighing heavily on him since their defeat of Zarkon and his witch. Keith didn’t want the team to disband, but it was inevitable and he knew it would leave a Voltron shaped hole in his heart. Despite his best efforts, he’d gotten incredibly attached to these particular Humans and the impending farewells were only going to hurt.

 _“Keith?”_ A private line opened up between himself and Shiro, the older man’s voice laced heavily with concern. “ _Is everything alright? Black says you’re hurting. Do you want to talk about it?”_

“No.” He replied matter-of-factly and chastised Red for being a tattletale, she merely purred in response. “I’m fine, really. We can talk after we kick Sendak’s ass.”

The hearty laugh from the other side of the coms did wonders in restoring Keith’s mood. _“Alright, but don’t think for one second that I’m letting this go.”_ The line switched to open up between all five Lions and Shiro gave the next set of orders.

Phase Two was slightly more complicated. It involved entering the Galaxy Garrison without being granted access and hiding their Lions somewhere that Sendak’s fleet wouldn’t be able to find them very easily.

Hunk had remembered learning about a series of abandoned tunnels that led to a system of warehouses, and ran directly under the Garrison. They had apparently learned about this in history class, but Earth history had never been one of Keith’s best subjects and he couldn’t recall a single detail about these tunnels. Not that it mattered, Matt was quick to back Hunk up, confirming their existence and that they would be able to easily access the Garrison from them. Apparently, some Cadets liked to party in the tunnels and there were several entrances into the Garrison’s grounds that the Paladins would probably need to seal once inside.

With the plan in mind, they adjusted course and headed for the sole above-ground train station. It was the farthest stop away from the Garrison, but it was their only point of access without breaking into the warehouses, something that would definitely attract unwanted attention from both the Garrison and Sendak.

Jupiter flew past and the collective gasp stopped his heart. It appeared as though more than just Throk had pledged their loyalty to the Commander. Nearly 50 ships loomed on the far side of the asteroid belt, waiting for the order to approach. The cloaked Voltron Lions slipped past them undetected and continued solemnly towards Earth.

But the bad news didn’t stop there; 10 more cruisers surrounded the Paladin’s home planet. They had attacked each of the 26 Galaxy Garrison bases across Earth, destroying the smaller locations completely and leaving only the larger, better-equipped bases standing. Sendak’s Command ship was stationed within range of the Texas compound and Keith new instantly that it was their primary target.

 _“How did they know to target our base?”_ Lance asked quietly and was met with a palpable silence. It was Krolia who answered; explaining how they must have intercepted the signal sent by Keith’s dad and used it to narrow in on the Texas base, making it Earth’s default Central Command. It was also where the majority of the damage was found. The scattered remains of destroyed fighter jets littered the desert, helmet visors glistened in the midday sun, and a small engine fire that was just starting to run out of fuel lay at the edge of the Garrison’s shields.

 _“Holy shit, you guys.”_ Pidge commented and they’d taken the words right out of everyone’s mouth.

* * *

~~~~~~~~

* * *

“We need to send out the MFE’s. They’re Earth’s most advanced weapons and the only shot we’ve got against Sendak.”

“I will not send a fleet of Cadets into battle.”

“But you’ll send our best pilots to their death? With no due respect Admiral -”

“I urge you not to finish that sentence _FORMER_ Officer.”

James listened to the bickering going back and forth in the briefing room. Admiral Sanda and Former Officer Kolton Kogane had been at each other’s throats for nearly 20 minutes already and they weren’t making any headway what so ever. Earth was under attack by aliens, _ALIENS!_ Big mean purple aliens who wanted nothing more than to destroy them. It was the most terrifying thing he’d ever experienced but he sat firmly in his seat, back straight, and chin held high.

James came from a military family with along line of highly ranked members, and there was no way he’d be the weak link in the family tree. His grandfather was a Commander, his three uncles were Commanders, and his father was well on his way to earning that very same title. The Griffins were proud, noble, and capable military men; he would uphold that tradition if it was the last thing he did.

Beside him, Risavi fiddled mindlessly with a pocket flap on her uniform while Kinkade stared heavily down at the table. Leifsdottir was watching the argument with a detached gaze that matched most of the Officers in the room and he took note of the tension that seemed to be hanging around them all; it was electric. The only reason they were even allowed to be there was because their little foursome was the _only_ trained MFE squad.

Officer Warren was sitting across from him, vehemently backing up Mr. Kogane to the obvious detriment of his career. The fire fighter had stopped him from joining his crew and being slaughtered alongside them, and the young Officer now seemed to feel some sort of debt to the man. He was arguing something about Officer Shirogane and how the Admiral had covered up his return to Earth.

James was still trying to process the fact that aliens were actually real, let alone that they had captured the crew of the Kerberos mission. It was in the middle of this line of thought that the large screen covering the far wall flickered. The sudden interruption halted the increasing hostility of the on-going argument, pulling the attention of every single person present. James watched in well-masked horror as the now familiar purple furred face appeared on screen.

_“Earthlings. This is Commander Sendak of The Fire Of Purification, surrender yourselves or I will destroy your Planet. You are no match for the might of the Galra. I will grant one final quintant for you to reply before your pitiful race is obliterated.”_

The alien spoke in a booming harsh voice; the language was strangely too soft to come from a creature like him. Professor Harrison had created a translator that ran English subtitles along the bottom of the screen for them all to follow along but it did nothing to hide the frankly ‘alien’ nature of this Commander Sendak’s voice. He had no idea how she’d managed to do it. The man with the floating arm and robotic eye was a literal alien and deciphering his language should have taken months or years, not days. It just didn’t make sense.

“We need to do what Krolia says.” Mr. Kogane shouted at the Admiral the second the screen shut off.

“I will not follow orders given by a Galra. These monsters are the ones attacking our planet and you want to feed right into their hand?”

“Krolia ain’t with Sendak! We just need to buy some time before Voltron gets here.”

“Enough with this ‘Voltron’ nonsense. We will not have a group of aliens landing on Earth to protect us. What will they demand as retribution once Commander Sendak and the Galra have been defeated? Earth will not be indebted to an alien race. We will handle the situation ourselves.”

“You were right here when I made the call! You heard it! Officer Shirogane and Keith will come with Voltron to save us.”

“Hmpf – your _GALRA_ son is not welcome here. He only further proves that the entire race is not to be trusted. He attacked Commander Iverson, abducted three Cadets, and broke into a secure facility to kidnap Officer Shirogane.”

“Yea, Keith can be a lil’ shit but he’s a good kid and -”

James tuned out the rest of the argument. Keith, Keith Kogane, the best damn pilot the Garrison has ever seen and the biggest pain-in-the-ass James has ever met, was actually an alien this entire time? What. The. Fuck.

“Woah, woah, woah. I’m sorry – but did the Admiral just say _Keith_ is a Galra?” Risavi whispered in his ear.

James nodded in response then paused as realization hit him. “Half, I guess.” He concluded, staring at the former Cadet’s very Human father.

“Damn. I knew the kid was odd but holy shit!” she looked almost reverent while pondering the revelation. Her sudden and abrupt gasp pulled everyone’s attention. “I’ll bet he doesn’t really speak Danish!”

“That’s your take away from this, Risavi?” Kinkade shot back in disbelief and she shrugged her shoulders, but ultimately shut her mouth under a seething glare from Admiral Sanda.

* * *

The meeting continued in much the same way, Kolton Kogane arguing that they needed to listen to his Galra wife, while Admiral Sanda gave orders for the rest of the pilots to scramble their jets. Officer Warren, being one of the only ones trained to fly them, was ordered to take one of the MFEs instead of a fighter jet. If he managed to survive, then the Admiral would consider sending their MFE squad out.

James was both nervous and excited about that. Kogane was right, the jets didn’t stand a chance but the MFEs might actually be able to cause some damage. Yet, he didn’t particularly want to get vaporized. Still, duty was duty and James would follow the orders he was given like the good soldier he was.

As for now, since the only trained MFE squad were still only Cadets, they had been ordered to head off into the tunnels for a supply run. They armoured up and James rushed to their transport, wasting no time in scrambling up the side. “Okay, I’ll drive.” He called out only be silenced by an unexpected voice.

“I’m coming with you.” A tall, thin girl with glasses was standing behind their group, one hand on her hip and a tool case held firmly in the other. She had tanned skin and stunning blue eyes with a very soft looking brown bob. Under any other circumstances his heart would be racing for reasons other than the mission. “Name’s Veronica McClain. I’m an analyst and your handler.”

James scowled as he jumped down from the transport vehicle, landing firmly in front of her with his arms crossed. “We don’t need a handler.” He shot back in an admittedly petty tone.

“Do you know how to get to the depot?” she deadpanned.

He chuckled condescendingly in reply. “Well, no, but you know, I’ll just use the guidance system.”

The stern girl, Veronica, rolled her eyes. “That uses the world communication network. Which – oh yeah, these tunnels were designed to block. And Cadet Rizavi should drive; she has the highest marks with the AW-Cruiser Transport.”

“I like her!” Rizavi beamed.

“Oh, and shot gun.” She smirked victoriously and James narrowed his eyes.

“I _really_ like her.”

* * *

Leifsdottir blinked awkwardly as she stared at him from the seat beside his in the back. Kinkade was manning the gun on top of the vehicle and James was stuck inside listening to Veronica robotically call out directions. ‘Right, left, right, middle, stay straight, left then left again’ and so on. Risavi handled the cruiser well but dammit, anyone could have driven this. The tunnels were abandoned, aside from the odd rat that scurried by, and remarkably clear of debris. A monkey could have taken the wheel and he was growing increasingly more irradiated.

They came to a stop and filed out of the vehicle, Veronica instantly taking charge. “Griffin, Kinkade, pull open those warehouse doors. Risavi, get to work on repairing the train’s engine. Leifsdottir, help me open these compartments so we can fill them with the supplies.” She commanded and everyone set to work.

“They left her in pretty good shape! I think I’ll have her running in under an hour.” Risavi announced and not a minute later he and Kinkade had managed to break the locks on the heavy doors. The four of them set to work moving supplies into the train compartments, while Risavi fixed the engines and he was impressed at how efficiently they were moving; like a well-oiled machine. After an hour she finished with the repairs and joined them in hauling crates and canisters but it didn’t take long before a loud clanking sound echoed through the tunnels and set James’ teeth on edge.

“The hell was that?” Kinkade asked from behind a large crate at the back of the storage unit. Veronica gave the order for James to investigate and he rushed out of the unit, slinging his gun back over his shoulder in the process. The Cadet gripped his weapon firmly as he charged off down the dark tunnel.

He instantly took back everything he had previously said; THIS was the most terrifying thing. Running after a strange noise into a pitch black abandoned tunnel in the middle of a hostile alien invasion. This is the kind of shit that people try to hide from at the bottom of a whiskey bottle. He was definitely going to need a good stiff drink when they made it back. When – not if.

James repeated that to himself as he made his way through the tunnels as quietly as humanly possible, sneaking along at a snail’s pace to avoid loud boot falls echoing off the walls and giving away his position. The stale, stagnate air made it impossible to tell where any sounds were coming from and more than once he’d taken aim at a particularly threatening rat. It wasn’t until a strange guttural sounding alien language resonated off the walls that he realized it wasn’t just rats down here.

This wasn’t the same language that Sendak had used to communicate with them. Instead of the soft, rounded sounds this one was harsh and guttural, full of hisses and growls. He listened carefully, setting the camera on his suit to record and transmit directly back to the Garrison command.

 _“Cadet Griffin, we are receiving your signal. The suit’s camera is equipped with night vision so stay low, stay quiet, and try to get a visual. Do you copy?”_ It was one of the communication technicians that answered but he knew Admiral Sanda was watching and had given the order. Not wanting to speak, he held his thumb up in front of his suit in a silent confirmation and pressed off the wall, slowly inching his way closer to strange noises.

The voices got louder and, though he couldn’t see a damn thing, he knew the camera would pickup his surroundings. James felt the wall vanish behind him and realized he was at a corner. Pressing himself tightly against the edges, he found the wall again and rounded the corner to find at least a dozen pairs of glowing yellow eyes in the darkness. He held his breath and heard a collective gasp over his earpiece as his audience got a full shot of the aliens gathered before him. One of them made a sniffing sound, followed by what he new was their language, and a few of the eerie yellow eyes swept over the area of the tunnel he was crouched in.

James had never more terrified in his life but he stayed calm in his little corner and watched, waiting for them to notice his presence. When nothing happened, he let out the tightly held breath and listened to them speak. They were steadily making their way closer, clearly in no rush as they smashed empty crates and kicked open doors that lead into empty hallways. When their group reached the fork in the tunnels, they split up, sending a pair of two soldiers down the smaller tunnel while the rest continued on their current trajectory. It was smart; they were ensuring that each route was mapped out. Eventually they’d reach the other cadets and it was only a matter of time before they found the sub-level access to the Garrison base.

A shot rang out and blasted the wall above his head, briefly illuminating the tunnel and clearly showcasing his location. Everything changed in an instant. Admiral Sanda yelled in his earpiece for him to retreat and a slew of shots littered the concrete walls surrounding him.

He ducked behind one of the platform barricades, taking aim with his blaster and returning fire. The two Galra that had headed down the other tunnel came running back, blasters in hand, and even more reinforcements emerged the darkness behind them. What had started as maybe twelve Galra was now nearly 30 and James’ weapon seemed to have no effect on their armour. This was it; this was how he was going to die. He took aim and continued to shoot; if he was going down he was going to put up as much of a fight as he possibly could.

Several things happened all at once. The purple blasts were interrupted by a bright blue one, some of the Galra turned around and started shooting behind them into the darkness, and a red & white blur whizzed past James to take down one of the Galra that had been sneaking up on him. Out of the darkness came a crew of aliens wearing white armour, each accented with a different colour.

The blue alien had a matching blaster that looked like a sniper rifle. It dropped to one knee and held up the weapon to shoot down the Galra with precision. The yellow alien had a massive blaster that looked incredibly heavy and carried quite the punch. One shot would send a Galra soldier flying into a wall, never to get up. The green alien was tiny and had a small glowing green weapon that acted like a cross between a taser and a grappling hook. While the black alien had what appeared to be a standard issue Garrison pistol, aside from the fact that it was white & black to match his armour.

The red & white blur whipped past him again and sliced down one of the soldiers before he even registered it was there. “HEY!! What the hell man, I had that guy!” the blue alien wined in English. _English!!!_ The red alien, laughed as he took down three more soldiers with his sword, bouncing between them faster than James had ever seen.

“ _Who the hell are they?”_ Admiral Sanda shouted in the briefing room and James flinched at the sudden loud voice in his ear. It didn’t take much longer, maybe 15 more minutes before the soldiers were dealt with and the red alien practically skipped over to his hiding place.

“Hey, Damsel.” He grinned and _holy fucking shit!_

“KOGANE?” James screeched, watching as the clearly not Human boy double over laughing. “What the actual FUCK!” His yellow eyes were glowing eerily in the dark and, as he threw his head back laughing, inhumanly sharp teeth caught the light.

“Oh GOD, your face!” Kogane managed to wheeze out, taking a gasping breath as he tried to control the fit of laughter still racking his body. A blue light hovered in the air above their heads, casting a soft glow around the tunnel and illuminating the others present. He was now able to see that, along with the four other colourfully armoured soldiers, there were also several others in their group; all of which were obviously not Human.

A cluster of the aliens were clearly Galra and one of their number stepped forward to smack a firm hand across the back of Kogane’s head. She growled at him and he flinched. A flurry of hissing, guttural, growly sounds echoed between them as they conversed in the same alien language as the Galra, before the woman turned back to face James, speaking in perfect English. “I am Krolia and I assume you are familiar with my kit?” Keith rolled his eyes beside her. “Take us to your leader so we may discuss the defeat of Commander Sendak.”

“Dude!” the blue one laughed. “Your mom legit just said ‘take me to your leader’.” Keith hissed violently at the boy and James was embarrassed to admit that it made him jump. “Yeesh take a chill pill. Griffin, we come in peace!” he laughed and James scowled in reply.

The alien with the black & white armour stepped forward, accompanied by a slim alien wearing a thin white and black flight suit accented in pink and blue. “Keith, stand down. Lance, leave Cadet Griffin alone.” The black one chastised and James’ eyes widened as the all too familiar face of Officer Shirogane stepped closer. He extended his hand and smiled broadly, the edges crinkling up to crease around his eyes. “My name is Officer Takeshi Shirogane, it is a pleasure to see you again Cadet. We need to get to the Garrison and seal off these tunnels, any chance you can lead the way?” His smile was radiant and there was no way James could turn him down, he found himself leading the group (Galra included) towards the others before he even knew what he was doing.

They rounded the final corner and the pretty tanned girl named Veronica leapt past him to crush the blue armoured boy in her grasp. “LANCE! OH MY GOD, LANCE!!” She was peppering his cheeks and forehead in kisses as he struggled to breathe.

“Ronnie?” he gasped and his arms wrapped tightly around her. James watched the group of aliens step into the light of the train that Risavi managed to get running. He could now clearly see that there were three species in their group: Humans, Galra, and something else that looked Human enough to be confusing. Without another word the Galra with a tail rushed over to help load the last of the crates onto the train and Kinkade gaped at it in shock. The Galra’s tail wrapped around a canister and flung it up and over its head. Keith jumped off the top of the train ( _how the hell did he get up there?_ ) and caught it, screeching in joy as he landed far too gracefully, laughing with the tailed Galra in their strange guttural language.

When the last of the supplies had been loaded in, everyone filed into the train except Veronica. The four MFE pilots stood in the control room, while the others sat in one of the carriages. Veronica took the Cruiser with who he now knew to be her little brother; the missing Cadet: Lance McClain.

They rode in silence, an unspoken agreement to look anywhere but at each other as the confined space seemed to get heavier and heavier. James could feel his thoughts spiraling, what if Kogane hadn’t shown up? What if he’d been left to fight off 30 Galra with nothing but an absolutely useless weapon? What if the soldiers managed to find the others? Their weapons would have been just as useless as his so would the soldiers have made short work of them before continuing on towards the Garrison? Did they know where they were headed or were they just investigating the tunnels? So many questions flooded his head that it was becoming increasingly hard to breathe.

“Hey, _Damsel_ – take a breath with me, okay?” Risavi mocked, though her voice was laced with genuine concern as she leaned down in front of him, taking his hands in hers. “Breathe in – breathe out – breathe in – breathe out. Focus on my voice and nothing else, okay. In – and out – in – and out. Just like that, you’re doing great. In – and out.” She kept her voice quiet and steady; slowly he started to calm down. After his breathing leveled out she pulled him into a tight hug. “Is that the first panic attack you’ve ever had?” He nodded in response, finally understanding what that horribly feeling had been. “You’re wound so damn tight Jamie, you need to take better care of yourself.”

“Hmpf, easier said than done.” He managed and returned the embrace, thankful for the distraction.

* * *

~~~~~~~~

* * *

Keith leaned up against one of the pallets of what he assumed was food. Regris was sitting beside him, as were Krolia and Plak. The other Paladins (minus Lance) were huddled in a corner discussing something Keith wasn’t able to hear. Allura and Coran were sitting with the Paladins but the weird Altean girl Allura had brought along was sitting with Matt in a different corner all together. He watched them, noted how closely they were sitting, and warred with himself about whether or not to just ask. Finally, he caved as his curiosity got the better of hm.

“Matt, is the Altean girl your mate?” He asked very matter-of-factly and watched the Human boy sputter in surprise. Allura choked on a laugh while the strange blonde Altean blushed vibrantly and Krolia smacked him across the back of the head – again. “What? It’s an honest question.” Keith huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Everyone was thinking it.” He muttered.

The train lurched rather ungracefully as it came to a stop, the old brakes screeching painfully and all four Galra winced, their hands coming up to shield their ears. “Ugh, broadcast THAT across your planet and Sendak will hightail it out of here.” Regris spat. “Is all Human tech this archaic?” Keith laughed as he nodded. Even the most highly advanced technology on Earth was – adorable, to say the least.

He heard the door to the control room open, but their carriage had to be opened from the outside so they waited patiently while muffled voices spoke on the other side. Vaguely he heard the Admiral say something about restraints and Keith was instantly on edge. Krolia, Regris, and Plak heard it too, bodies tensing with the anticipation of hostility. Finally the door opened, revealing a swarm of soldiers aiming their guns directly at them. He rolled his eyes, so much for a warm welcome.


	3. Galaxy Garrison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanda continued. “If we are not even going to consider the option of Voltron’s surrender, then we need to prepare an attack. We must protect our planet from being taken over.”
> 
> “You can’t fight back. You are not capable of taking on a former Commander of the Empire.” Krolia rebutted. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her tone was more akin to an exasperated kindergarten teacher explaining the dangers of putting a knife in an electrical socket to a five year old. Not something you’d expect to hear aimed at a highly ranked military official. This tone did not go unnoticed by Sanda who glared menacingly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long but my cat got hit by a car on the weekend and I didnt get any editing done because of it. The little devil is doing okay - he has an adorable cast on his leg and thankfully the biggest injury is to my wallet for the vet bills. 
> 
> Anyways - only two more chapters left ... maybe three if I split the last one up. We'll see how long it turns out. Enjoy!!

“Hands where we can see them!” the Admiral commanded, her voice raised and authoritative. All of the Humans in their group, himself included, raised their hands high above their head and the others copied their actions.

Allura, Coran, and Romelle were wearing Altean flight suits utilizing the same translator technology as the Paladin armour. They had been synced up to the Castle of Lions before the mission which allowed them to understand Earth languages, but only those spoken by the Paladins. Plak and Regris on the other hand, were dressed in Empire armour and lacked a capable translator. They’d decided to stick closely to Krolia, placing full trust in their superior Officer’s knowledge of English.

Sanda’s scrutinizing gaze followed each of them as they exited the train car. She eyed Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro with frustration, Matt with surprise, Keith with anger, the Alteans with distrust, and the Galra with hate. He was just about to say something when the sound of a small transport vehicle echoed down the tunnels. Veronica pulled up onto the platform, having driven up the service steps, and parked just shy of the conflict. Lance exploded from the passenger side door in an instant, rushing to the side of this team and demanding to know what was going on.

“I’m pretty sure that’s  _ my _ line, Cadet!” Sanda spat back. She turned to face one of the Officers, ordering them to send for a group of Cadets to unload the gathered supplies after their classes let out.

“With all due respect Admiral, the supplies need to be unloaded immediately so that we can seal off the tunnels.” Shiro objected.

“If I allow you to block off the tunnels, then how are we going to get more supplies?” She countered.

“There are no more supplies.” Krolia casually announced, causing all eyes to turn in her direction. “If the other warehouses held anything useful, Sendak’s soldiers would have taken them.”

Sanda’s ire turned to Krolia, her eyes narrowing as she spoke. “We will not destroy functional infrastructure under the commands of a Galra. Now that we know the Voltron Lions are here, we finally have a bargaining chip to use.”

“Are you suggesting that we willingly hand over the Lions to Sendak?” Shiro asked, utterly bewildered.

The Admiral’s jaw tightened, her patience clearly wearing thin. “If this is truly the last of our supplies than Earth can’t hold out against them. The weapons we have aren’t enough to mount an attack, and we’ve already lost countless pilots in an attempt to defend this base. The Galra are just too powerful.”

“You don’t understand!” Pidge shouted, tiny fists clenched tightly at their side, their entire body shaking with a barely contained rage. “It’s not just Sendak, there’s a whole armada waiting just beyond the asteroid belt. With all of those ion cannons, Earth won’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell if we hand over the Lions!”

“Yeah, we’ll all be sitting duflaxes!!” Lance added and Keith had to resist the urge to face palm.

With a roll of his eyes he swatted the Blue Paladin in the back of the head. “Be serious for one minute, would you?” He hissed and watched as several of the guns moved to aim in his direction. Krolia bristled at his side.

“Enough!” Admiral Sanda yelled, her voice echoing in the abandoned train tunnels. “We will inform Sendak that the Lions are here and offer to make a trade with him; Commander Holt and the promise of Earth’s safety in exchange for Voltron’s surrender.”

A series of objections rang from the Paladins before Allura decisively stepped forward. She squared her shoulders and the air around her seemed to shimmer with the power and authority she’d begun to radiate. “I’ll settle this argument right now. We’re NOT giving up the Lions under any circumstances.”

“There is no negotiating with Sendak.” Krolia added. “He will make a deal and take the Lions, then destroy you anyway.”

Sanda sneered and spat back hatefully. “Maybe you should leave the matters of Earth to the people who live here.”

“Please, Admiral -” Shiro raised his hands in a calming gesture, taking over the discussion. “I respect that you’ll do anything you can to protect Earth. But trust us, we’ve been through more than you can ever imagine. We have fought the Galra on the fringes of the universe and in their very home. I know there’s a way to defeat Sendak.”

“How? We barely know what we’re up against. You say you’ve fought these monsters and yet you bring four back with you. How is Earth supposed to trust you Shirogane?” the inclusion of Keith in the ‘Monster’ category did not go unnoticed. He scowled at the Admiral, a low growl just begging to escape his throat.

“OKAY! Can we discuss this somewhere that is not on a train platform where every word echoes down the tunnels; tunnels that could have more of Sendak’s soldiers in them.” Matt cut in; breaking the tension and bringing everyone back to focus. “We need to get the supplies and seal off these tunnels like, now!”

“Fine.” Sanda conceded. “You will all hand over your weapons and assist in unloading the supplies. Then you will be escorted to the main board room where we  _ will _ continue this discussion.” She turned another hateful glare on him and Keith narrowed his eyes in return. “I expect you to be capable of following a simple order Cadet, even though your record suggests otherwise.” Keith’s scowl deepened and he finally let the building growl out, noting several of the Officers flinch. “Kwelk.” Krolia muttered under her breath and he offered his mother the biggest shit-eating grin in history.

It took a varga for the train to be emptied with the help of James, Nadia, Ina, Kinkade, Veronica, Matt, the 3 Galra, the 3 Alteans, and all 5 Paladins. Keith caught a complicated look in Shiro’s eyes a few times as he scanned the mass of armed Officers standing guard, but the older man steeled it away the moment it appeared. He resolved to ask him about it later, when the worst of the chaos had died down.

The ride up into the Garrison base proper from the tunnels was torture. They had to go in waves, splitting up their numbers as they were accompanied by various Garrison Officers. Each group had at least 1 Paladin and 3 Officers, with the ratios varying each time. Keith’s group consisted of himself, Krolia, Plak, Regris, and Coran as well as 4 generic Humans. One looked vaguely familiar, but then again all Humans kind of looked the same and Keith didn’t want to embarrass himself by staring. So instead he spoke to his mother in his native Galran, a language he knew wouldn’t be understood by those who weren’t meant to listen.

“You swore at the base’s most senior officer.” He snickered, a grin firmly in place. “You called her a Kwelk.”

“I call it like I see it.” Krolia replied with little to no interest and a dismissive wave of her hand. “That doesn’t make it okay for you to repeat it.” She quickly scolded. Plak choked back a laugh and Coran smirked, but Regris was too busy scowling at the elevator doors to notice the exchange, fearfully bracing against a wall with each protest of the old mechanisms. He was muttering a plea to the ancients under his breath and the Human Officers watched him warily. Keith rolled his eyes at his kit-hood friend.

“You used to look a lot more Human.” The familiar one finally spoke up. The Paladin turned his head to glower at the young man, pointedly dragging his gaze up and down the other’s frame before locking onto his eyes and quirking a brow. The Officer swallowed dramatically. “Bennet, Officer Bennet?”

“Are you asking me?” Keith said flatly.

“Uh, no that’s, that’s my name; Brian Bennet. I was more – you don’t remember me, do you?” Keith shook his head slowly but thought better of it and stopped, pausing mid shake to shrug his shoulders instead; he did  _ kind of _ remember him. The other let out a heavy sigh. “We were in the same training classes. I was assigned as your sparring partner like, at least a dozen times. Seriously?” Keith merely shrugged his shoulders.

“Sorry.” He replied. “Humans all kinda look the same.” Krolia snorted beside him and all 4 Officers scowled at him.

The elevator door opened and Regris practically flew out, earning some surprised gasps at his sudden movements. Keith quickly followed, desperate to leave the uncomfortable atmosphere of the elevator behind him. They stood with the rest of the group, waiting for the others to join them, before heading off as one large convoy to the main briefing room.

Sanda led the way; a Commander Keith didn’t recognize speaking quietly with her as they walked. He watched them, arms stiffly clasped behind their backs, shoulders squared, and chins held high. They were the picture of Human military command and he hated it. Everything about them was stiff and rigid, sure the Blades and the Empire were built around order and control, but they felt different somehow. Perhaps it was because this place just wasn’t home for him; these customs were foreign, alien. Immediately Keith felt uncomfortable, like an outsider being led around with calculated caution which, in a way, he supposed was exactly what this was.

They were marched through the halls, classroom doors being shut at their approach by the various armed Officers walking ahead. He could only imagine what it must be like for the Cadets sitting in class. Aliens were invading and attacking Earth and, as they learned about some petty Human war or perhaps algebra, Senior Command was traipsing down the hall fully armed and shutting their classroom doors without explanation. He wondered if they could see the procession through the door’s small central windows. Could they see the soldiers accompanied by their Admiral as they led a party of strange aliens through the base? With the Paladins in full armour none of the Cadets would recognize them as Human. Would they think Griffin, Nadia, Ina, Kinkade, and Lance’s sister had been attacked by them? Probably!

A firm hand rested on his shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze and Keith turned his head to meet Shiro’s small smile. “Stop worrying. This is home, everything will be fine. I promise.” His smile broadened, swallowing up the bits of face that were visible through the visor. Keith knew his words were meant to be comforting but it didn’t help. This was  _ their _ home not his, he didn’t belong here and he wasn’t welcome here. Suddenly the grip on his shoulder tightened and Shiro stopped walking, pulling Keith back and creating a slight traffic jam behind them. “Keith, I’m serious. Whatever you’re worrying about; stop. Earth is just as much your home as it is ours. You’re Galra, there’s no denying that, but you’re also Human and were born right here on Earth. Whether you grew up here or not is irrelevant, you have just as many rights as we do – technically more since you were born an American and Lance and I are both immigrants.” Shiro smiled that warm, soft, old-man smile of his and the tension melted from Keith’s shoulders.

He gave a small nod and let himself be pulled into the inevitable hug. Shiro was right, he had every right to be here and Sanda could hate him all she wanted, it wouldn’t change that. “Thanks.” He mumbled into the armour his face was currently squeezed against.

“Of course!”

One of the Officers was chastising them for the delay, his thick accent obscuring the words to the point that Keith could no longer understand him. Shiro did though; he nodded at the Officer and pushed away, smiling warmly at Keith before catching up with the group. The young Galra felt a shiver run up his spine and snapped his head to the side to see the faces of several Garrison Cadets crammed in the tiny window, watching him.  _ Guess that answers one question _ . He thought and grinned wickedly at them, his sharp teeth glistening in the fluorescent lights of the hall. Several eyes blew wide and one of the students paled as another gasped. With a satisfied snicker he turned heel and joined the others.

He knew they’d approached their destination when a small shriek sounded in the hall and the figure of a woman came charging towards them. She engulfed Pidge in a tight embrace, dropping to her knees and squeezing the Paladin so tight Keith doubted they could breathe.

“KATIE!” She sobbed into the white and green armour. “Oh, Katie, I’m so glad you’re okay.” Pidge mumbled something unintelligible into their mother’s shoulder and Matt pointedly cleared his throat beside them. Watching the flurry of emotions run across Colleen Holt’s face was cinematic. She seemed annoyed that someone would dare interrupt their moment, then confused as the young man looked familiar, followed by shock when realization set in, and lastly, pure joy as she tugged him down into the family group hug by his armour. Matt collapsed into the embrace and Mrs. Holt cried all over again. It was sweet and also super embarrassing for them - Keith couldn't possibly understand how they were comfortable with so much  _ emotion _ in such a public setting. Humans are weird.

“Mom, I have a very important question for you.” Matt said, his tone becoming incredibly serious as he pushed back and pointedly met her teary gaze. “Where. Is. BaeBae?” Colleen’s expression shifted once again, this time landing on exasperation. She bellowed out his name and swatted at him before the rebel fighter burst out laughing. Just like that, the tension had been lifted.

* * *

“Stop it!” He quite literally hissed and Nadia visibly flinched before shrugging it off and continuing to poke at his markings. The boardroom they were sitting in was massive. A large table ran down the centre of the room and every single chair around it was filled, leaving some people to stand awkwardly in the small gaps and along the edges. Two doors stood opposite each other and both were blocked by armed guards on either side, as well as more standing watch in the hall. It was a show of arms and an intimidation tactic to remind them all that they were merely visitors on this planet; unwelcome ones at that. 

Several members of the Garrison’s command were chatting in various Earth languages all around them as everyone got situated. It was a moment of clarity for Keith, like a light bulb that had been flickering in the back of his mind and had only now received a strong enough current to finally switch on as the last piece clicked into place. Out of all the members in their little ragtag group, only Pidge and Matt spoke English as a first language. Hunk grew up speaking Samoan and English  _ almost  _ simultaneously, Shiro spoke Japanese until he learned English when he transferred to the Texas campus, Lance spoke Spanish until he was 14 and learned English as a requirement of acceptance to the Garrison, Keith spoke Galran until he re learned English for his mission to Earth, and Krolia had learned it while stranded on this planet approximately 20 deca-phoebs ago.

The lack of a unified language was further proof of how young Humans were as a species. They weren’t ready for this war, and the interference of outside technology could interrupt their own advancement. Oh well, too late now!

He swatted Nadia’s hand away one more time and shot her a death glare, growling under his breath as a final warning. Plak stiffened beside him, unable to understand any of the communications and therefore very confused and on edge. Keith turned to his former mentor, speaking quietly to assure him that everything was fine, Nadia was a friend, and that he would translate for him during the meeting.

But that appeared not to be necessary. Professor Harrison had worked with the IT department to create a program that allowed for instant translation between English and Common. She activated said program and suddenly everything the Admiral was saying started scrolling across a large screen in an overly stylized version of Keith’s own penmanship.  _ At least everyone can follow along now. _ He thought to himself as Plak and Regris’ attention snapped to the screen immediately.

“So-” Nadia whispered at his left side, “you’re an alien, huh?” He quirked a brow at her but smirked nonetheless, nodding his assent. “Sweet, sweet. Okay I have like, a billion and one questions and you absolutely have to answer them. Got it?” Keith’s laugh was cut short when Krolia growled at him to pay attention and he noticed every single set of eyes in the room glaring in his direction. He blushed and slinked down slightly in his seat muttering a halfhearted ‘sorry’.

“As I was saying -” Sanda continued. “If we are not even going to consider the option of Voltron’s surrender, then we need to prepare an attack. We must protect our planet from being taken over.”

“You can’t fight back. You are not capable of taking on a former Commander of the Empire.” Krolia rebutted. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her tone was more akin to an exasperated kindergarten teacher explaining the dangers of putting a knife in an electrical socket to a five year old. Not something you’d expect to hear aimed at a highly ranked military official. This tone did not go unnoticed by Sanda who glared menacingly.

“Well, if bargaining with the Lions isn’t an option, and fighting back isn’t an option, then what exactly does that leave us with?”

“What we told you to do initially.”

“We will not surrender Earth!!”

Allura interrupted before Krolia had the chance to respond. “We are not asking you to surrender genuinely, merely to  _ pretend _ to surrender so that you may provide enough time for us to come up with a plan of attack.” She used a soft and reassuring tone, attempting to diffuse the mounting tension and being sure to speak in Common so that her input was translated. Keith watched her words scroll across the screen in English as she continued. “Sendak does not know that we are here, he believes that he has stopped our arrival at the edge of your system.”

“We can use this to our advantage.” Shiro added. “With the element of surprise we can mount an attack that he is unprepared for. Like Pidge said, there are several fleets waiting beyond the asteroid belt as back up. If Sendak has even the slightest hint that we’re here, he’ll call them in and Earth could be destroyed in the crossfire.”

“The best chance we have for victory is to destroy his fleet with stealth, then go after the others.” Krolia finished, not having strayed from her firm but impassive tone even once thus far.

Sanda let out an exasperated huff, balling her hands into fists as they rested on the table. “He will think we are weak.”

“You are.” Krolia dismissed and she was met with a long silence as the meaning of those two little words sank into everyone’s consciousness. Finally, the Admiral spoke up.

“We need to weigh our options here and come up with a plan  _ before _ I make the call either way.” Sanda glared her words into the reflective surface of the boardroom table. Her brow was furrowed and the ease with which she dropped the idea of surrendering the Lions made Keith’s gut clench.

“Well, then let’s find out what we can do.” Allura piped up with a smile, looking over to Coran who sat dutifully by her side. “Coran, is there a way to integrate Altean tech with Earth’s weaponry? Perhaps we could give them the boost they need to be effective.”

The ginger man twiddled the corners of his moustache, an annoying humming sound coming from him. “I don’t see why not Princess. It would take a lot of work; I would need the combined brain power of Number 5 and their brother to get this done. A galaxy this young won’t have any balmera so we’ll have to find some alternative power source which could take more time than we have.”

“I can work on a proper translator for this base. Earth’s rudimentary tech forcing us to read what everyone is saying off a screen is becoming a nuisance.” Regris piped up and Sanda was too surprised to even glare at him.

Professor Harrison announced that she would join Regris to help with the translations, and Hunk volunteered his services as well. Shiro was going to update the Garrison’s senior command on everything they didn’t know regarding the war, the Empire’s new leadership, Voltron, and the coalition. Krolia and the Princess opted to join him and fill in any gaps in his knowledge. Keith and Lance were to take Romelle and Plak through the desert and back to the station where they had hidden the Lions. Coran was going to put together a list of parts he needed and it was up to them to retrieve it all. They’d decided the safest way was in one of AW Cruisers which James and Nadia both volunteered to drive.

In the end it was decided that both Keith and Lance were capable of driving the transports on their own, seeing as both Cadets had received the same training on the basics. Shiro made the executive decision as leader of Voltron that Keith would drive and Lance would man his sniper rifle to keep the group safe. Both Paladins were satisfied with their assigned roles. 

The meeting was adjourned and their group was escorted to the cafeteria while sleeping arrangements were made. The Paladins gorged themselves on familiar foods, excitedly taking more than they could possibly eat. Keith filled a small plate for himself and directed the non-Human members of their party as to what was safe to eat. He pointed out all of the dishes that he knew contained meat, allowing the Alteans to avoid them, and made sure to warn them all about how terrible coleslaw and carbonated drinks were.

Naturally they all insisted on trying the strange fizzing beverage, with Krolia as the only exception. She’d had coke and ginger ale before, deemed both horrid, and vowed to never again consume them. The Alteans decided that they liked the tingly feeling while the two Galra agreed with Keith that it was terrible. Plak even went so far as to say it would make an effective method of torture.

After their dinner they were escorted to the main entrance of the Garrison to meet up with the crew who had been sent on a retrieval mission. They had been assigned to search for survivors of the last attack, though no one expected any positive results. In a moment of uncharacteristic compassion, Sanda pulled him aside to say that Kolt volunteered to go on the rescue mission because his training as a fireman could prove beneficial. Keith had felt a welling of pride for his father’s bravery and genuine gratitude to the Admiral for telling him in private. He stood in the entry with bated breath as the transports came back into the base.

Out of the cruisers emerged several Officers he didn’t recognize, Commander Iverson, Officer Warren, and his dad. The Officers pulled a stretcher from the back and pushed an injured pilot into the base while Iverson, Officer Warren, and Kolt made their way to the group.

“A-Adam?” Shiro stuttered, his voice a mix of shock and relief. The Officer paused in his steps to look up at their Black Paladin, taking in the Altean armour and his cybernetic hand before recognition settled in and he dropped all pretenses and to run towards him. Shiro stepped out from the group, meeting his partner just before the crowd and wrapping their arms tightly around each other. They held the embrace for a moment before Shiro spoke. “Adam! When we heard about Sendak’s attack I – I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.” He moved to step back but the arms at his waist visibly tightened.

“I spent over a year thinking you were dead in space, Takeshi. Don’t you fucking dare let go of me or I’m going to kill you myself. Do you understand?” Shiro laughed at him, closing the gap and muttering something into Adam’s neck that made the bespectacled man blush. Keith caught himself smiling.

A chirp to his left had the Red Paladin turning to stare at his parents. Their foreheads were pressed together, hands clasped tightly between their chests, as they whispered words too quiet for even the hearing of a Galra to pick up. They separated rather abruptly, Kolt turning to face him and smiling wide. “Keith, git over here kiddo. Yer ol’ man needs a hug!” Despite his best efforts, Keith found himself grinning as strong arms wrapped themselves around him. He took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar scent of his father; he smelt of a hot dry sun, the sand in his desert cabin, and the faint smoke of fire that seemed to cling to him. If Keith let out a soft purr, well, none of the Humans needed to know that.

Their embrace was over as quickly as it began, Kolt affectionately ruffling his hair and resting a sturdy hand on his shoulder, the other arm wrapped possessively around Krolia’s waist. “Iverson, you gonna give that report or are ye want’n me to do it?” he joked, broad beaming smile never waning.

The gruff Commander grumbled that he would do it himself but made no move to leave. Instead, he turned to Shiro, awkwardly clearing his throat as the couple finally separated. “Officer Shirogane. It’s great to see you again. My apologies for throwing you in quarantine.”

“Ahh, so you’re the one who strapped Shiro to a table.” Coran jumped in, leaning uncomfortably close. “I heard about that.” Without the translator program from Professor Harrison, the Commander had no idea what was being said, he merely narrowed his … eye, at the eccentric Altean instead.

“You were just following orders, as any good soldier would. It’s great to see you, too.” Shiro responded with a smile, his human hand falling behind him to clasp tightly with Adam’s. “Allow me to introduce you to our Altean allies. Meet Princess Allura, Romelle, and Coran.”

“The honour is mine.” Iverson replied; nodding in acknowledgement to each as their name was called.

“We’ve brought some allies from the Galra Empire along as well. They are Regris, Plak, and Krolia.” The mention of Krolia drew the Commander’s attention towards Keith and his little family. Once again Iverson gave a nod to each of them and a frown to the halfling.

“Cadet …”

Keith felt himself standing straighter, he raised his hand in an Earth solute and responded with a prompt “Yes, sir.”

Iverson’s hard exterior melted slightly giving way to a kinder expression, not over friendly, but still much more welcoming. “I owe you an apology as well. I’ve heard about all you’ve done and I was wrong about you. It’s an honour and privilege to see you again.”

To say he was shocked was an understatement. “Thank you, sir.” He managed before thinking better of it himself. “I guess I wasn’t exactly the best cadet back then. I probably owe you a bit of an apology too for, you know, the apple sauce incident and your eye.” He stuck his hand out to shake but winced when Iverson squeezed too hard.

“The apple sauce was you? You nearly killed me!”

* * *

Keith stood in the door frame staring into the room he’d been assigned with a strange sense of déjà vu. It was like that first day back at the Garrison all over again, except this time he had a roommate. Regris squeezed past him and Keith would be kidding himself if he didn’t admit to being a little excited about the sleeping arrangements. Being paired up with his kit-hood best friend was like having a permanent slumber party. Reg wrapped his tail around the bars and flung himself onto the top bunk, almost sliding headfirst into the wall as he claimed the bed as his own. The Red Paladin tried to hide his excitement as he feigned defeat and “reluctantly” took the slightly larger bottom bunk.

They had all been divided up into rooms with one Human and one alien in each and Keith was surprised to find himself counting as one of the Humans, he’d thought for sure he would be treated as an alien. But his previous status as a Garrison Cadet meant that he was just as familiar with the layout and protocols as each of the others and therefore he was responsible for his non-Human partner.

The pairings were pretty good actually, and he was starting to think the Admiral wasn’t a complete nimrod after all. She had paired them up mostly by gender, with Matt & Romelle being the exception. Lance was paired with Coran, Pidge with Allura, and Hunk with Plak. His parents were allowed to stay together and Keith wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole in the desert and die when Lance made a joke about them ‘making up for lost time’. It was all made worse by the dirty little glint in his dad’s eye as he winked back at the Blue Paladin. Keith made a mock vomiting gesture and received a smack and a hiss from Krolia that made the Humans in their vicinity flinch.

Shiro was the only one not staying in the Cadet dorms. Instead, he moved back into his old apartment-style residence with Adam. Keith was happy for him, their time apart had seemed to fix the issues in their relationship; distance makes the heart grow flowers … or something like that. He couldn’t remember what the Earthling’s saying was. Mostly though, Keith attributed their happy reunion to the very real threat of alien invasions putting the smaller things into perspective and the near loss of each other’s lives. Shiro had been star struck with Kolt before Kerberos, but he was utterly in awe of the man after learning how he’d been directly responsible for Adam avoiding the same fate as the other Pilots in his fleet.

He was just starting to settle down when a quiet knock on the door made Reg stiffen. “KEEEEIIIITH, open up!” Nadia’s voice drifted from the other side and he hastily crawled out of bed to let her in. “OMG OMG OMG, I was hoping the one with a tail was your roomie!” She was practically bouncing in excitement as she zipped her way across the room in the blink of an eye. Her small hand thrust up to reach Regris as she introduced herself and the poor guy eyed it in obvious concern. Keith couldn’t contain his laughter and barely managed to translate her words into Galran.

Ina slipped in quietly, taking a seat on Keith’s bed, and as nice as it was to have the chance to catch up, he didn’t want to play translator all night. He hadn’t taken nearly enough time to appreciate the Castle of Lion’s tech when he had the chance. Red could translate, but that would mean leaving the base and heading back to the Lions, something he  _ knew _ he’d get in shit for, and not just from Shiro but from Allura, Krolia, and probably even Sanda. Not worth it. He couldn’t ask the other Paladins to borrow their helmets because they would be using them to communicate with their roommates. So that just left his helmet and Reg’s suit, the latter of which was useless since it couldn’t translate to or from English.  _ Quiznack,  _ he was going to be stuck translating.

“If you speak Galactic Common, I will be able to understand you.” Ina said and Keith gaped at her. “Professor Harrison handed out the language to everyone and I am one of the few that realized the tactical benefits of being able to speak a universally recognized language, so I learned it.”

“Perfect! I’ll be right back!” he announced, jumping to his feet with an inhuman grace and flying from the room.

There was only one combination that could communicate without their translators; Matt and Romelle. He made his way down the hall and knocked on the rebel fighter’s door. It took a minute, far too long than it should, but eventually a disheveled Matt opened the door and scowled at him.

“Dude, the fuck man?!”

“Sorry, I know it’s late but can I borrow your mask? Or Romelle’s helmet? Or both?” Matt quirked a brow at him but didn’t put up much resistance, closing the door and returning a moment later with the aforementioned mask.

“Here, Romy needs her helmet for tomorrow but you can take this. Do I even want to know?” He briefly started to explain the situation but Matt clearly didn’t care and shut the door on him.

Keith returned to find Regris half hanging off the top bunk by his tail, Nadia sitting on the ladder, and Ina speaking in stilted Common from the bottom bunk. He handed his Paladin helmet to an incredibly eager Nadia and passed the mask to Regris. “Okay, Reg you can only speak in Common or Ina won’t be able to understand you, and I’ll speak English since it will be easier. Ina, if you don’t know a word just say so and I’ll translate.”

* * *

That night had been more fun than he’d ever expected. Nadia ratted him out for thinking Ina was a robot when he’d first met her and Regris poked the girl’s cheek to confirm that she was in fact Human, admitting that he’d assumed the same. They played a few rounds of truth or dare, one of which resulted in Regris nearly falling out the window after Nadia dared him to hang by his tail and the curtain rod snapped from his weight. Keith had luckily been standing close enough that his quick reflexes were able to grab the older Galra and pull him back inside.

Nadia dared Keith to sneak into the commissary and steal them a snack with his ‘space ninja powers’ as she put it. He had to remind her of the last time she’d dared him to steal a snack. After getting him ridiculously drunk playing shots and ladders, they’d sneaked into the kitchens and stolen an entire tub of lemon-lime jello that had been meant for lunch the next day. A trail of radioactive green slime lead straight to his dorm room and the pair had been found covered from head to toe in the evidence. He’d even had it in his hair. She giggled at the memories and Regris fell into a fit of laughter, offering to accompany him on his heist.

In the end, Keith had lost. All four of them sneaked their way down to the kitchens, only to startle Hunk who had the same idea as Nadia. Not wanting to be left alone, Plak had followed the Yellow Paladin and the six of them now sat on the floor, hiding behind the counters, as they dug into tubs of sorbet. 

Hunk had given his helmet to Plak so that the former Blade could understand him, but with no knowledge of Common he was unable to understand him in return. “We really need that translator, like, sooner rather than later.” Hunk grumbled and Regris nodded in assent, adding that they were going to be working on it in the morning. “Dude, I have no idea what you’re saying.” Hunk complained as he shoved another spoonful into his mouth. Keith translated.

They continued their game of truth or dare, now with the added risk of getting caught where they shouldn’t be, and managed to polish off two entire tubs of sorbet in the process before finally calling it a night. Regris asked if he could borrow the mask to work on the translator with Hunk and Professor Harrison, and Keith agreed that it would probably make things much easier. He was sure Matt would be fine with it; after all, he didn’t seem all that concerned tonight.

* * *

Matt was very concerned. He grumbled about having been preoccupied last night and wanting to keep his rebel mask with him, but ultimately conceded that Regris needed it more. 

Everyone had met up in the main cafeteria for breakfast and Keith barely managed to carry his giant plateful of pancakes back to their table before dashing back to the buffet to snatch a bottle of pancake sauce and a mug of coffee. 

The cafeteria was filling up with Cadets, Officers, and various other Garrison personnel as they slowly filtered in. One by one the tired Humans would walk through the doors, notice the table filled with aliens, and make a dramatic double take before unabashedly staring. Keith was painfully aware of every single eye glued to their group as they ate. The three Alteans talked with his fellow Paladins, their Altean armour and flight suits facilitating their conversation, while the three Galra chatted amongst themselves in their native tongue.

Keith turned his attention from the story Plak was telling to watch Krolia and Kolt join the buffet line. They’d entered the large room hand in hand, ignoring all the hushed whispers his Galra mother was more than capable of hearing, and eventually sat by their son with plates full of food. 

Breakfast went by quickly. Regris and Hunk hurriedly inhaled their meals (much to the latter’s annoyance) and promptly made their way to the lab Admiral Sanda had assigned them. Pidge didn't even bother showing up for breakfast and a disgruntled Allura made it clear that attempting to wake the beast was a dangerous mission; a mission that Matt was more than up for. The Officer turned rebel fighter took a small plate of bacon, eggs, and pastries in one hand, and an entire pot of coffee in the other, before venturing off on his noble quest; a nervous Coran in toe. 

Nadia and Ina popped over to say good morning before joining James and Kinkade at their usual table. As their group dwindled Allura and Romelle moved down the table to sit with those still remaining. Shiro had yet to be seen, but Kolt assured them that it was likely due to his residence having a kitchen. Sure enough, when Officers Shirogane and Warren finally made an appearance it was for the sole purpose of refilling their matching ‘Mr. Right & Mr. Always Right’ coffee mugs. The couple offered them a smile and a nod, collecting Krolia, Kolt, and Allura before heading to their day of meetings.

“Who is the angry boy?” Romelle asked, speaking up outside of Matt and Allura’s presence for the first time. Both Keith and Lance turned to see James glaring at them.

“Cadet Griffin - er, James Griffin.” Lance answered with a scowl. 

“OH, that is the boy that has the large genitals!” She practically yelled and Lance spat his drink across the table.

“WHAT??” he wheezed.

“Keith told Allura that he has large genitals while they were talking about Earth.” She answered in complete innocence. Lance’s wide eyes moved to stare at Keith who hadn’t been able to gather his faculties yet.

“And how - HOW, do you know what Griffin’s dick looks like?” Lance yelled - in English. Keith wanted to die.

“ _ I don’t. _ ” he seethed. “I told Allura that he IS a massive dick, not that he HAS a massive dick!  _ STARS!!! _ ” Lance blinked as he processed the information and promptly burst out laughing. Keith turned back to Romelle. “What else did the Princess tell you?”

* * *

They finished their retrieval mission and returned to the Garrison with Coran’s list of parts in record time, arriving just before the Cadet’s lunch ended. Unfortunately, this meant Iverson noticed their presence and demanded that they attend classes since they were still Cadets themselves. Keith tried to argue that he’d been expelled but it was no use. 

“Non Garrison personnel are not permitted to wander the halls unsupervised.” The Commander countered and Keith deflated, knowing full well he’d been bested. “Since you’ve pointed out that you are no longer a Cadet, you will be assigned a temporary guardian for the day. McClain! You are now responsible for Kogane’s whereabouts until further notice. He is to remain in your company at all times and that’s an order, Cadet.”

Lance replied with a ‘Yes, sir.’ and a dangerously cocky grin.

Iverson nodded and offered a smirk of his own, fully aware of what he was doing as the rest of his dastardly plan became evident. “Now, since Cadet McClain has been ordered to attend class, and Kogane has been placed under his watch, you will both be attending class for the duration of the day. Dismissed.”

“Uh, sir? What about Plak and Romelle?” Lance asked, his best ‘boy scout’ voice in full effect. 

Iverson’s eye glanced over the two aliens and he frowned, clearly not having accounted for them in his little plan. Keith could almost see the moment the light bulb went off in his head. “Take them with you Cadet. Give them those fancy translating helmets of yours and take them to class. Dismissed.”

Romelle was beside herself with excitement but Plak stared at a dumbfounded Keith in equal bewilderment. He hadn’t been able to understand the exchange but he was incredibly gifted at reading body language, especially Keith’s after having been his instructor for so long. 

Class sucked. The moment they walked into the room they were met with not-so-hushed murmurs from the other Cadets. Some were terrified of the aliens, specifically Plak, others found them interesting, and others yet refused to believe that Keith was the same ‘Cadet Kogane’ that had been enrolled with them. At least until he stepped back into the sims and shattered every record he’d ever set. Plak followed suit, breaking all the Garrison’s top ranked scores but not even coming close to the ones Keith had just set. He’d always been a talented pilot, but his time as the Red Paladin had only made him better.

When Lance proceeded to out-fly both Nadia and Kinkade, coming in just below James on the scoreboard, Keith couldn’t help but share in the Cuban’s excitement. Even if his impromptu ‘hammer dance’ was a bit over the top. 

After flight training they had math which didn't go quite as smoothly. As a universal constant, mathematics is one of those things where the symbols change but the fundamentals do not. This meant that, after adjusting to the different characters used by the Earthlings, Plak took it upon himself to argue with Professor Krise about one of his calculations. The argument ended with Keith literally having to tackle the former Blade in an effort to stop the escalating argument from getting any worse. The Professor had thrown a piece of chalk at his head and Plak not surprisingly lost his shit, going from arguing loudly in Common to hissing and growling in Galran. Needless to say the only clean pair of underwear amongst the Humans belonged to Lance. 

By the time Keith calmed Plak down, one of the students had proved him right and he took to arrogantly strutting back to his seat for the remainder of the class, very proud of himself. It was infuriating. 

Next was English Lit which Keith napped through, followed by Cultural Studies. Professor Harrison had taken a break from helping Regris and Hunk with the translator to teach this class. She set the Cadets to work on a short assignment and pulled Keith aside to inform him that, just because the project had already been graded, it did not mean he was off the hook for having cheated on his alien culture. Her parting words before the bell rang were “I expect you to redo the project as assigned, after you defeat this Sendak character of course.” With a bright cheery smile she shooed the very grouchy former Cadet along after Lance to their final class of the day.

Luckily for Keith, and everyone who had to be in his presence, that final class was combat training. He’d been itching for a rematch with Professor Montgomery ever since he’d had to take that kick to his jaw.  _ This is going to be cathartic as fuck!  _ He squealed to himself in glee.

As predicted, Professor Montgomery was ‘stoked’ to have some actual aliens in their class to spar against. He wasted no time in inviting both Plak and Romelle to the floor to demonstrate a traditional fight style from each of their species. Plak was breathtaking to watch, he moved so fluidly and with a precision that sharpened steel would be jealous of. Keith gladly watched him and when their instructor called him up to show what a typical Galran sparring session looked like, he happily leapt at the opportunity. 

While Plak was smooth and precise, Keith was graceful and quick. His blinding movements were difficult for the larger Galra to track and more than once Keith managed to slip between his wider stance, sliding out of his reach. They went back and forth for nearly 15 minutes before the older finally managed to grab him by the leg. He lifted Keith high into the air and moved to slam him down but the Paladin grinned, focusing his energy on the familiar tingle and evaporating in a cloud of smoke. He reappeared behind his opponent, swiped out his legs, and pinned him to the mat. Victory, and what a sweet victory it was! 

Every single person in the room, Lance, Romelle, and Plak included, were in utter shock at his display of Galran Druid magic. Staring at their faces, Keith took a bow.

“I didn't know you were a Druid!” Romelle excitedly exclaimed. “My brother, Bandor, will be studying under Princess Allura to become an Alchemist!”

“WHAT THE QUIZNACK!!” Lance yelled before he could respond to Romelle. The Cuban jumped to his feet and shook Keith rather violently by the shoulders. “When did you learn to do that???” He continued and the Red Paladin stared at him in disbelief until realizing the others hadn't been around both times he’d used this new ability. So he explained to Lance, Plak, and subsequently his former classmates, about how he’d taught himself from the archives on the Castle and from watching Haggar’s Druids. 

Eventually it was Romelle’s turn and she was - well, she was insanely talented. Her movements were fast and powerful but soft and graceful. It was like watching a dance; she’d clearly received a lot of training and she reminded him of the times he’d caught Allura on the training deck.

Professor Montgomery matched them up for sparing, pairing the two Paladins and the two aliens which one another. Lance insisted that it was cheating for Keith to use his Druid skills and he surprised the Cuban by agreeing without putting up a fuss. With Keith’s deca-phoebs of training, and his abundance of time spent training on the Castle, Lance proved to be an easy opponent in hand to hand combat. Though he didn't get the rematch he’d been hoping for, spending a varga wiping that cocky smirk of his  _ guardian’s  _ face was incredibly satisfying.

When the bell rang it was nearly 1800 hours and they went straight for the cafeteria. Shiro and Adam joined them at their table, as did Allura and Coran when they arrived. Both Holts refused to leave the confines of the lab they’d been assigned, choosing instead to work unendingly into the night to complete the weapon upgrades. Regris, being a half Galra mirror of Pidge, also chose to remain in his assigned lab, but Hunk eventually surfaced when his hunger got the better of him. 

According to Shiro they were in for an entire quintant worth of strategy meetings tomorrow but, for now, they were free to relax in their rooms. Keith finished his dinner, snatched his helmet back from Plak, and followed Hunk to Regris’ new lair. He released the Yellow Paladin of his duty and promised to escort his kit-hood friend back to their shared dorm.

Taking a seat across from his fellow halfling, Keith switched back to Galran. He slid a plate of food across the table and threatened to shove it down the other’s throat if he didn’t eat willingly. They laughed about their days while Reg worked. Keith recounting the spat during math, how he and Plak destroyed the records on the sims, and his disappearing act during combat. Reg told him all about how Hunk fell asleep under the desk and ended up curled around Regris’ tail because he said it was warm.

After another few vargas, the sleepy Blades made their way back to their shared dorm, passing some fascinated Cadets and Officers along the way. In the morning they’d have to focus and get back to business, but for now they could just be two kids hanging over the edge of their bunk bed in a college dorm.


	4. Preparations Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith hesitated only a moment before calling out to his friend. “Is everything okay in here?” He asked, unable to keep the surprise and concern from his voice. This was Hunk, his friend, his fellow Paladin. How could he not be concerned.
> 
> “Yeah …” Hunk half heartedly replied and Keith didn’t buy it for a single tic. He leaned himself in the doorway, crossing his arms over his chest and firmly deciding, right then and there, that someone needed to help and if he was the only one around then that someone would just have to be him. Poor Hunk; Keith was a shit therapist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this took me WAAAAY longer than anticipated to get out but good news - the next chapter wont take nearly as long since its already written now! As you can see this is part 1 - because the chapter ended up being 20K words and YIKES that's a meal and a half!
> 
> Any ways - we're so close to the end. Enjoy!

The roof of the Galaxy Garrison was flat and littered with exhaust vents, air conditioner units, and ductwork. Neat rows of solar panels were arranged on each of the various levels and, amongst the ordered chaos, stood a large flag pole flying a truly massive flag. The red, white, and blue fabric danced in the wind, its edges tattered and singed from Sendak’s initial attacks.

Keith sat at the edge of the uppermost rooftop landing, his feet hanging over the side of the building as he leaned his weight back onto the palms of his hands. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon, dipping behind the outcropping in the distance as vivid reds and oranges lit up the sky in a spectacular sunset. Taking in a deep breath, he stared out at the expanse of the Texas desert; wind rustling through his hair as it whipped sand up from the vast nothingness that surrounded him.

He narrowed his eyes, squinting against the light as it slowly began to dim. Somewhere out here was his childhood home. Not his kithood home; that was the Blade of Marmora’s main base, but instead the small cabin that replaced the long gone home he had lived in with his father and mother for the brief time when they had been together, happy, safe.

Oh, sure, they were together again, reunited as a family for the first time after deca-phoebs apart; but they were far from safe. Sendak’s ‘Fire of Purification’ was threatening a full scale invasion of his home planet, the Galaxy Garrison was anything but a bastien of acceptance, and there was the ever present reality that neither Krolia nor Keith truly belonged on Earth. They were wild, unpredictable, untameable, and they belonged out amongst the stars. Not stuck in some sandy desert shack sweeping rattlesnakes off the front porch like his father seemed to desire. 

He let out a heavy sigh and lay back against the hot concrete, limbs spread wide, his black hair splaying around him like a dark halo. It was much longer now, back to the length it had been when he’d first arrived on Earth nearly three deca-phoebs ago, and though Lance still called him “Mullet” from time to time, the moniker didn't really fit anymore. These days, like before his father had cut it, his hair was mostly styled in a braid that he’d tuck up into his Paladin helmet, or loop around his neck. A dark plum hair band was currently sitting at his wrist like a cheap bracelet, having been removed to let the wind whip the black strands about. The fresh, but slightly sandy, breeze tangling them in a way that would undoubtedly result in a mind boggling amount of profanity later as he tried to brush out the knots.

Keith’s pretty sure he’d heard the Humans call this position ‘starfishing’, though he has no idea what a starfish is, or why it would want to lay on a hot roof. In fact, he’s starting to question his own reasons for being out here. After the sun fully sets the temperature will drop, though the wind will stay warm, which is why he came in full uniform instead of just his civies. The awful orange colour of his Garrison jacket shining like a beacon while the heavy fabric did its best to liquify him into a puddle of sweat under the attention of the hot sun.  _ Stars _ , he’d blissfully forgotten how much he hated these uniforms. They were the actual worst thing he’d ever been forced to wear - and that includes the wretched Altean healing pod suit. 

With Regris and Hunk’s upgraded translator program in full effect, the non-Human members of team Voltron no longer needed to rely on the translators in the Altean helmets, which freed them up from being forced to wear their armour and flight suits 24/7. Naturally, Sanda's immediate followup to this was ordering everyone, regardless of species, to wear the Galaxy Garrison uniforms. Her dreaded announcement had been in response to Princess Allura urging them all to view each other as a team. 

_ “We are fighting for the same goals: to free your planet Earth from Sendak, and to bring peace and safety to your people as well as the universe.”  _ The princess had said, rising from her seat at the briefing table to stand tall and address every individual present.  _ “I urge you all to view us not as aliens amongst you, but as friends who have travelled far to help our newest allies -”  _ She’d paused for dramatic effect before letting her warm smile fall over the paladins and continuing with  _ “- and desperately missed home. _ ” The scowl on Admiral Sanda’s face eased momentarily as Allura’s message of unity faded and the beaming Princess took her seat. The Admiral, who had sat with steepled fingers during Allura’s address, rose to deliver the final blow; a closing point before she released them all with a final sentiment of  _ “If we are to see each other as equals and allies, it is important that we look the part of a cohesive unit. From this point forward ALL personnel will be required to wear Galaxy Garrison uniforms and assimilate!”. _

Allura had been ecstatic, feeling as though her speech moved the Admiral, but Keith groaned at being forced into the terribly itchy Earth uniforms. Memories of soothing his painfully inflamed skin in oatmeal baths had come flooding back into his mind, reminding him of the agonizing amount of time he’d spent adjusting to the unfamiliar, heavily starched fabric and industrial detergents. He’d rolled his eyes but ultimately said nothing, deciding anything he had to contribute would only make the situation worse. At least he could take comfort in the fact that they were all being forced to suffer together. 

However, as it turned out, that thought hadn't been entirely accurate. While Lance, Pidge, Hunk, Keith, Regris, Plak, Coran, Romelle, and Kolt had been forced into the hideous orange Cadet uniforms, Matt and Shiro (who had already graduated) retained their rank and received the substantially nicer grey Officer jackets. 

Romelle had immediately swooned over Matt seemingly holding more power on Earth than the Paladins of Voltron and she toyed with the lapel of his jacket in barely concealed excitement. Keith and Pidge made gagging noises simultaneously while Lance toyed with Hunk’s collar, teasingly mimicking Romelle’s sentiments. A blushing Matt had called them all insubordinate and threatened them with being Court Martialed, much to Romelle’s delight, even if he didn't actually have the power or authority to do so.

Like the rest of them, Allura had been given the same bright orange Cadet jacket and accompanying rank, though she received an extra shoulder bar in acknowledgement of her role as Princess and head of state for the newly reformed Altea. Krolia, on the other hand, flat out refused to wear the Galaxy Garrison Uniforms stating she was a highly respected covert operative and second in command of the Galra Empire and she would NOT be reduced to the level of a Cadet. Eventually, after nearly a varga of power glaring, Sanda had conceded and allowed Krolia to wear her Empire armour. Not that she had much of a choice, Keith knew his mother and no one could make Krolia do something Krolia didn’t want to do.

Keith let out another heavy sigh as he pushed himself up from the unforgiving concrete of the roof, once again resting his weight on his arms stretched behind himself. He’d come up here to be alone, to think about  _ everything _ that was going on, and to let himself recharge his personal batteries after quintants spent in constant company. It wasn’t that he minded having Regris around at night, or the other’s around during the day, it was just that there was always  _ someone _ around. He wasn’t as antisocial as James seemed to think, or Lance liked to joke, but he was definitely more of an introvert and the constant companionship was starting to drain him. 

That was the nice thing about the Blades and, hell, even the Castleship; there was always somewhere he could escape to. Their bases had the meditation rooms, the reflection pools, or his own private quarters, not to mention the various empty classrooms or simulators or training decks - though the latter were usually occupied. The Castleship was massive and had only housed the seven of them, meaning 90% of the castle was empty at any given time. Sure the kitchen, lounge, pool, bridge, medbay, archives, or training deck usually ran the risk of having someone there, but the castle offered floor after floor of empty, untouched places. He could spend time bonding with his fellow paladins, then easily retreat to somewhere more private when he needed to be alone. Even the one bedroom shack he’d shared with his father out in the desert had been relatively isolated. 

But the Garrison was like none of those places. Around every corner was an Officer, several Cadets, and a constant stream of noise. Up here, on this rooftop, he could finally breathe.

Movement at the corner of his eye caught his attention and a large bird landing on one of the nearby solar panels pulled him out of his thoughts. It had dark brown feathers in its wings that faded into a lighter brown, almost gold, at the neck. And it was absolutely fucking massive. Over the year that he’d been a cadet, Keith had made a habit of seeking solitude on this very roof. Luxuriating in the shade of the solar panels during the day, and soaking up the residual heat from the concrete in the evening; usually managing to get a nap in. Most of the Garrison personnel, aside from maintenance workers, wouldn’t dare come up here due to the baking hot sun, unhindered wind, and all around general danger of falling to their untimely death. But they weren’t Keith and they didn’t have his training. Training that allowed him to know with absolute certainty that, even if he did fall, he’d be able to survive.

“I came up here to be alone, asshole.” He scolded, scowling at his unwanted companion. This very bird had disturbed his sanctuary reliably each time he’d sneaked up here to get away. And this time proved no different. They had a mutual understanding that neither would pester the other, and from time to time the large eagle would drop him a small rabbit it had caught. In return Keith would bring dishes of water up and place them in the shade under the great bird’s favourite solar panel.

He watched as the eagle settled on its perch, unbothered by his presence. Clutched tightly in those razor sharp talons was a small furry animal, probably a rodent of some sort, still squirming in a useless attempt at freedom. The bird used its sharp beak to tear into its meal and the struggling stopped. Keith gawked at the magnificent creature for a dobash or two, having almost forgotten how majestic it was, and watched as it devoured its meal with surprising efficiency. Though he had only ever been in Texas, he knew Earth held a vast array of animal life. He’d come across coyotes, eagles (such as this one), an absolute shit-tonne of rabbits, scorpions, and the occasional snake. Not to mention all the various lizards he’d find scaling the walls of his dad’s cabin in the early morning hours. Unluckily for them, the young Galra would opt to enjoy a live breakfast instead of tossing them out the window like his father would.

The bird dropped what remained of its meal and took off with a sudden shriek and Keith heard the heavy rooftop door slam shut.  _ Great, more company _ . He pouted to himself and let his arms give way, laying down against the now slightly cooler concrete once again with a hearty thud. 

“DUDE!” A familiar voice yelled from the far side of the roof. Keith ignored it, maybe if he stayed low the Human girl wouldn’t find him. “What are you doing up here?” Nadia continued, slightly closer this time.

Keith rolled his eyes, but otherwise didn’t bother to move. “Hiding.” He replied as if it weren’t completely obvious. 

“Okay - but why are you laying so close to the edge???” There was genuine concern in his friend’s voice, clearly worried he would slip and fall, and Keith shrugged his shoulders as best he could in this position. 

“Comfy.” He replied with another shrug and she groaned in the distance, still inching her way closer - though rather timidly.

He could see her roll those dark brown eyes and shake her head, the two pieces of hair she claimed ‘framed her face’ swaying back and forth with the motion. “You know, the fact that we  _ didn’t _ know you were an alien is really starting to get embarrassing.” Nadia punctuated her words with a light kick to his shoulder, eliciting a small chuckle from the young Galra. “Actually, speaking of aliens - do you know if that moustache guy is single? He’s giving off some serious daddy vibes.” 

Keith choked. He squawked so loudly, and jumped to his feet so suddenly, that he nearly lost his balance. “WHA - CORAN? I - what - how -  _ WHY? _ ” he finally managed, mouth agape and eyes bulging from his head. He couldn’t even guarantee that his words had come out in English.

“Oh come on, I’m only kidding - mostly. But no really, kidding!” She threw her hands up in a mock surrender and Keith finally managed to retrieve his jaw from where it was lying on the floor. “You’re wound so tight. You and Jamie. Always coiled like a spring. Learn to chill out Keith, all that tension isn’t good for your complexion, or personal life for that matter.” He huffed at her and settled back down into his previous position.

He snorted at her priorities. “I’m a soldier, I don’t get to have a personal life right now.”

“You’re a nimrod, that’s what you are.” She snorted right back, shuffling around and coming to lay beside him in the opposite direction. Nadia rested her head directly beside his, ear to ear, her ponytail brushing at his shoulder as she propped her feet up against a nearby vent. He didn’t turn to look at her but noted her position through his peripherals as he continued to stare up into the now dark night sky. Dobashes passed while they lay there. A comfortable silence settling between them on the roof, watching the stars begin to appear as the last few rays of sunshine fell beyond the horizon.

Amongst the twinkling stars were bright purple lights that hovered still in the sky. One directly above them, one off slightly to the right hovering over the outcroppings, one above the only visible train station, and several more much further away in the distance. The lights seemed innocent at first glance, beautiful even, but Keith knew better. He watched the purple light directly overhead as it twinkled slightly from a passing cloud.

That was most likely Sendak’s flag ship. It would be where Sam Holt was being held, where their team would be infiltrating, and where Sendak himself was lurking.  _ Stars, _ he hated that man. Keith wanted nothing more than to march his way to Red and tear into that ship with her mighty jaws. He knew they needed to secure Mr. Holt first but that didn’t stop his brain from wanting it. Somehow they’d find a way to get the soldiers off the cruiser before he’d tear the ion cannon right off the top, peeling the metal back like a can of tuna, impaling the front of the ship with Red’s tail, then blasting it to bits. He’d watch as the debris rained down on the desert floor, landing softly in the sand. Maybe Sendak would survive, maybe the sandy ground would cushion his landing just enough that Keith could pull him from the wreckage and watch the expression on his face as he realized he’d lost. 

He’d drive his sword, or maybe his blade, straight through Sendak’s stupid face. After everything that monster had done to the people of the universe, to the Galra’s legacy, and to Keith personally, he deserved to pay for his sins. Keith wanted to make sure that happened. It was Sendak’s fault that the other Paladins didn’t get to return home to their happy families. It was Sendak’s fault that their home planet was in danger. And it was Sendak’s fault that all of this was happening. They’d won, they’d done the impossible and taken out both Zarkon AND his witch. They’d begun to bring peace back to the Universe and still, after all of that, they weren’t even free themselves.

“Keith?” He heard Nadia’s voice break through the haze of his mounting anger and he turned his head to look her in the eyes. “You were growling.” She responded, concern once again clear as day on her features. “Is everything alright?”

He stared at her for a moment before buckling. He hadn’t connected with any of the other Human’s quite like he had with Shiro, Matt, Ina, and Nadia. They were by far the four people he’d been the closest to here on Earth, aside from his father. 

“When we first got to the Castle of Lions, it was deserted.” He started, speaking up for the first time in several dobashes. “Pidge led the way through the empty halls, and you know what thought popped into my head?” Nadia shook her head as Keith continued. “I kept thinking, ‘ _ huh, this is kinda creepy!’  _ and ‘ _ damn you, Nadia, for making me watch all those horror movies!’ _ because you know what? I have never been scared to wander through seemingly abandoned bases until that very moment. I kept picturing some horribly disfigured corpse around every corner. Or like, cannibals, or something. So thanks, Nadia, thanks for scarring me for life.” He poked her head with the tip of his claw, the sarcasm just dripping off his words.

“Oh good, and here I was worried you’d forget all about little ol’ me!” The shit eating grin splitting her face in two brought Keith to a laugh. It was amazing how they slipped right back into the way it had always been between them; vaguely flirtatious without the possibility of anything further ever developing. But that was fine, that was exactly how they liked it. It was fun to joke around with Nadia in a way he couldn’t with anyone else. Sure, he’d been willing to try his hand at flirting with Humans but the guys he’d been attracted to were either way out of his league (Shiro), an absolute dick (James), or seemingly out to get him (Lance). Things were different now of course, Lance and Shiro were his friends and teammates, while James seemed to have matured - a little. Or maybe it was Keith who had matured. 

A peck on his cheek caught his attention. “I’m going to bed, Kogane. Are you coming or staying here?” He stared up at the night sky a moment longer before sighing and nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” He replied, both of them struggling to their feet after laying on the hard concrete for far too long. They made their way over to the heavy metal door, descending the narrow steps back inside the Garrison.

* * *

Keith returned to his dorm room feeling slightly better, though not nearly as refreshed as he’d hoped. Still, several vargas of proper solitude had managed to do the trick and his head was now mostly clear of the constant chatter that surrounded him. Walking into his quarters, Keith was greeted by a sight he could never have prepared himself for. His kit-hood friend was hanging upside down from the top bunk by his tail while Lance sat on Keith’s bottom bunk, sewing needle in hand and three more pinched in his mouth, attempting to modify Regris’ pants to accommodate for the halfling’s tail. Since the appendage was thicker at the base, tapering off to a point at the end with three barbs along the length, it wasn't as simple as cutting a hole in the butt section and being done with it. Lance needed to complete “fashion surgery” as he was calling it. Cutting down the rear seam, measuring out the diameter of the tail’s base, cutting a hole, something else, another step, some sewing probably, and something else again, before finally declaring his work complete.

Regris dropped from the bed, flipping in mid air to land gracefully in front of the Blue Paladin, and thanked him profusely for his assistance. Lance practically beamed at the praise, standing to scoop up the remaining pants and tucking them under his arm with the promise to complete them later that evening in his own room.

After being expelled, Keith had been blissfully free of the horror that was the Galaxy Garrison’s Cadet uniforms. Just over a year spent in these itchy, stiff, starchy, restricting, bulky, and frankly hideous garments left him with a deep seated hatred. He’d been loath to put them back on. His disdain was validated by both Regris and Plak voicing the same sentiment. Unfortunately, uniforms were uniforms and they had no choice but to comply. 

He watched Regris excitedly trying on the altered pants, spinning around and darting off down the hall to catch a peak at Lance’s craftsmanship in the mirrors of the communal men’s bathroom. He knew this side of his friend and fellow Blade was one others rarely got to see and it made the older halfing seem much more reserved and stoic than he really was. Though he presumed the Humans thought  _ him _ to be rather cold and distant as well. But that was just the way he was raised and what felt natural to him. Galra were much less expressive than Humans and Alteans. Which, honestly, probably contributed to his lack of social life while he’d been a Cadet here, back when he’d first arrived for his mission to find the Blue Li-

“The Planet Earth calling Keith.” Regris announced, cutting off his train of thought by waving a hand directly in front of the Red Paladin’s face. Blinking, Keith frowned as he focused back on the present before rolling his eyes and lightly shoving the older Blade’s shoulder. “You ‘outer spaced’ as the Humans call it.” Regris explained.

Okay, so maybe Keith’s lack of social life had been more a reflection of him personally, since Regris seemed to pick up on the Human’s colloquialisms with relative ease. He rolled his eyes. 

“I didn’t ‘outer space’, Reg. I was just - thinking.”

“I am certain that is precisely the meaning of the phrase. We can ask the Blue Paladin to confirm if you don’t understand it.” He grinned back at him and Keith scowled in return. They were  _ not _ bringing Lance into this. Asking Lance to translate Earth phrases, and giving quiznaking  _ LANCE _ more ammunition to mock him with was absolutely out of the question. Nope. Not gonna happen.

“Whatever.” He muttered, flipping his wrist in the air dismissively. Turing back to his bed, Keith grumbled under his breath as he picked up the tiny pieces of string the aforementioned pain-in-his-ass had left behind. He was seriously debating heading back to the roof. 

Reg finally settled down from his excitement, crawling onto the top bunk and passing out almost instantly. Keith, on the other hand, wasn't ready for sleep. He still had so much on his mind. A meeting with Sendak was imminent but they had no real plan of attack. He knew that Krolia was right, if the massive support fleet waiting beyond the asteroid belt could be sabotaged without Sendak knowing, then he could be led into a trap and stripped of backup; thus rendering him vulnerable.

But  _ how _ they would accomplish this was the hard question. Obviously, Krolia had offered up the small group of Blades that had split off from the Empire ships as they pretended to retreat. But Admiral Sanda shot her down with support from the Garrison’s entire upper command. Apparently they didn’t trust a group of Galra “terrorists” with something so important, and in the name of peace Krolia had agreed to hear their counter offer. Naturally, they didn’t have one. 

Tensions had been rising inside the compound, which was what had ultimately driven Keith to hide on the roof that night in the first place. The Humans were becoming more and more desperate to chase Sendak away, the Holts were becoming more and more desperate to retrieve Sam, and Voltron was becoming more and more desperate to defeat the last remnants of the old regime. Once Sendak was dealt with, the universe would be that much closer to peace and all opposition to Thace’s rule would be wiped out. The Galra Empire would be fully unified once again and they could finally,  _ finally _ , begin rebuilding their own civilization; restoring the old ways and bringing back long forgotten customs of Galra culture.

Until this point, Voltron had been acting as a sort of buffer between the Garrison personnel and their alien visitors. But the longer they stayed on Earth without making any progress, the more the Paladins were drifting from one another. Pidge and Matt spent most of their time either with their mother or in their labs. Shiro spent most of his time with Adam or in meetings. Allura and Coran joined in those same meetings (along with Krolia), but otherwise mostly stayed to themselves and Romelle. Keith spent his time split between his father, his Garrison friends, and his fellow Blades with little time left for the other Paladins. While Lance and Hunk mostly tried to connect with their families. 

Hunk had started to act decidedly less Hunk-like as of late. Pidge had found Matt and was now reunited with their mother, Keith had both of his parents present, Shiro had his partner Adam, and Lance had his sister Veronica at the Garrison. But Hunk had no one and it was starting to drain the positive outlook right out of him. More than once, Keith had seen him wandering aimlessly into the kitchens only to pause, turn around, and walk away. He wanted to say something, but words and feelings weren’t his strong suit; that was better left to Lance. 

He rolled over in his bed and stared at the wall. There was this growing sense of dread that had started the other quintant, building slowly inside him until he was finally able to identify it as wholly  _ other _ , separate from his feelings of being back in the Garrison. This was more like a warning, not the blaring alarm his gut usually sent him, but more like a “proceed with caution” sign, or a dull headache that you can ignore but can’t fully be rid of. It was starting to keep him up at night and no amount of hiding on the roof could ease the mounting tension inside.

* * *

Four quintants had come and gone since arriving on Earth. A lot had happened in that time. 1) Sanda had relented and offered Earth’s surrender under the guise that their rescue had never arrived. 2) Emperor Thace’s fleet made a strategic retreat, heading back through a wormhole created by the Altean named Bandor who’d been left to run the Castle of Lions. As predicted, Throk’s crew had immediately given chase. 4) A small team of former Blade of Marmora operatives split off from the Empire fleet to blend in as debris. They’d followed the prearranged plan set forth by Krolia and were now hiding on one of Saturn’s moons, waiting for the call to resume their role of distraction once again. And most importantly 5) Sendak hadn’t questioned Earth’s surrender.

The Commander had arrogantly accepted that he’d outsmarted Thace and Voltron and clearly believed the Humans to be far too primitive to offer much resistance. Though, in all honesty, that last part was true. The Humans really didn’t have a way of effectively fighting back against him; until now.

The first test flights of the newly upgraded MFE fighter jets were scheduled for later next quintant - though after a cursory glance at the neon orange digital alarm clock in his room, it was more like later  _ this _ quintant. Even though he still wasn’t sleeping well, Keith was incredibly excited, though not nearly as excited as the two Holts. The siblings had been quite literally bouncing with frenetic energy in the boardroom when the announcement had been made. It was going to be dangerous, the MFE pilots needed to perform the flights while Sendak and his crew were distracted or else they’d risk their ruse being discovered. 

Everything had been painstakingly arranged for the test flight. Three of the other Garrison bases were going to launch false test flights of their own, drawing Sendak’s attention and allowing the Texas, Yokohama, Berlin, Bardufoss, and New York bases to test their newly upgraded fighters. Aircraft and weapons that boasted a fusion of Altean, Galra, and Earth tech.

With Regris snoring away, and the rest of the Garrison sound asleep, Keith decided to wander around the once familiar halls. He didn’t have a particular destination in mind, or any definitive purpose for that matter, merely the unshakable need to be  _ moving _ . He couldn’t sleep with his mind constantly running and, without the resources of the Castle of Lions, he couldn’t exactly rush to the training deck to work himself into exhaustion like he usually did in these situations. So instead, he found himself listlessly roaming the dark empty corridors at 0200 hours in his Garrison issued pyjamas. 

It didn’t take long before he realized where his zombie feet had taken him; the cafeteria. Abrupt grunting and groaning caught his attention, the sounds cutting their way through the thick fog of his sleepy chaotic brain, and Keith stilled in the doorway, unsure if he should enter. But after his eyes adjusted to the light, a familiar form could be seen inside and Keith felt his heart clench.

Hunk was reaching for a towel, rubbing grease from his face and hands, as he groaned into the cloth; frustration radiating off him in waves. It made the air in the room seem heavy and acrid; Keith hesitated only a moment before calling out to his friend.

“Is everything okay in here?” He asked, unable to keep the surprise and concern from his voice. This was Hunk, his friend, his fellow Paladin. How could he  _ not _ be concerned.

“Yeah …” Hunk half heartedly replied and Keith didn’t buy it for a single tic. He leaned himself in the doorway, crossing his arms over his chest and firmly deciding, right then and there, that someone needed to help and if he was the only one around then that someone would just have to be him. Poor Hunk; Keith was a shit therapist.

“Look,” He began, incredibly uncomfortable with the situation but forcing himself to proceed anyways, for the good of the team and his friend. “- I’m not very good at talking with people and Human emotions are still really confusing to me, so I don’t expect you to open up - but, if there’s ever anything on your mind -”

“- This situation STINKS!” Hunk cut him off, slamming the scrunched up grease coated towel onto the counter. Keith started slightly, eyes flying wide in surprise. “I can’t believe we finally get back to Earth and it’s taken over by GALRA _. _ ” the pure hate he laced into the word  _ Galra _ left Keith reeling.

He winced slightly at the venom in Hunk’s tone. “I guess there is something on your mind.” he muttered more to himself than anything as he walked closer, closing the distance between them and coming to stand at Hunk’s right side.

“And - and I know it’s stupid, but I used to daydream about coming home to a peaceful Earth. And that would have been great. But I realized that nothing - NOTHING would have been greater than seeing my family. But I can’t. And all I keep thinking about is that I wasn’t here, and that Sendak is only doing this to get back at us. I - I don’t even know if they’re okay.” He Paused a moment, letting his head hang heavy in front of him, the words and bottled up emotions weighing him down, pulling him further into an abyss that Keith is seeing for what really  _ shouldn’t _ be the first time. “And, I see you and Pidge with your families, Shiro and professor Warren, even Lance and Veronica, and - I, I mean, I’m happy for you guys. I am. But it just … It makes me miss my family more. I - I just, I’ve never felt so alone and scared.”

The pain in his eyes was unbearable and Keith had to look away. He may not be good at this, but he needed to try, he needed to say something to help. One thing Shiro had taught him was to always rely on the truth. Being genuine and honest is more important than saying just the right thing. So Keith reached deep, deep down inside himself, finding the thoughts he needed to convey and formed them into words; words he hoped would help Hunk. “Look, Hunk. I never told you this but, of all the Paladins, you’re the one I’m most impressed by. It’s no secret that you’ve always been the most scared, but you’ve never backed down. In the Blade’s we live by a creed of “ _ knowledge or death”  _ and fear just isn't an option. That’s not to say we don’t get scared, because we do, but we learn to work past it. We’re taught that to be brave is to go on in spite of fear, and that’s who you are, Hunk. You’ve never backed down. Never. I know you’re scared but your family - they need you to be strong right now.”

He’d barely managed to get the words out and Hunk was already squeezing the air from his lungs. “Okay, alright. Now we’re hugging.” He gasped, just a few phoebs ago he wouldn’t have allowed this contact, but things had changed and the team was closer now than they’d ever been. Closing his forearms around as much of the big guy as he could manage with the rest of his body locked in a vice grip, Keith returned the embrace. 

“Thank you, Keith.” His voice was soft and gooey, returning back to the classic Hunk he remembered from late nights working on their sim runs and studying in his dorm, from fighting side by side in their lions and relaxing around the castle. This was how Hunk  _ should _ be and he, Keith, had managed to bring this Hunk back. He gave himself a mental pat on the back and smiled into Hunk’s broad shoulders as the last of his air escaped his probably bruised lungs.

The larger boy abruptly released him, which brought a welcome relief, and started powering towards the exit.

“Uh, Hunk? Where’re you going?” 

“I can’t just sit around and do nothing.”

“It’s 2:30AM.” He replied completely deadpan, as if that wasn’t already clear. Honestly, what did Hunk think he could do at this time? 

“Yeah, and I’m willing to bet Pidge is still up working. I’m gonna go see if I can help with their latest project.”

“Not without me you’re not.” 

* * *

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I said ‘No’, that’s why.” Not even bothering to spare him a glance, the tiny Green Paladin continued to focus on the program they were working on. “Go back to bed'' they dismissed and Keith scowled at the small tuft of blonde hair poking up from behind the many screens angled toward their workstation.

“Pidge, I can read English, Galran, Common, and Altean. I could help.”

“Unless you can also read binary, get out.” Keith’s scowl deepened in response and he crossed his arms defiantly over his chest, refusing to move. The furious clicking of keys paused for a moment, punctuated by a heavy exhale as brown eyes narrowed and finally raised to lock with violet set in gold. “Look, I know you  _ think _ you can help, but you can't. Allura and Romelle are already on this, and now with Hunk helping, we’ve got more than enough brain power. Go back to bed Keith, you’re only going to get in the way.” 

He stood in stunned silence for a moment, not surprised that Pidge would be so blunt, but rather that no one had even considered asking for his help. Pidge’s gaze softened as the words registered in their own head. “I’m sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I just - there’s really nothing for you to do here. Besides, we’re almost done and heading to bed soon anyways.”

“What are you even working on?” He asked with a huff, letting the Green Paladin off the hook for their sass. 

“We cannot tell you.” Allura answered, a slightly guilty expression crossing over her very tired face. The princess’ eyes moved between the screens open in front of her, occasionally venturing up to meet his, before immediately darting away. It was very strange behaviour and Keith was instantly suspicious. 

He silently moved to stand nearer to her workstation, opposite of Pidge, and peered over Allura’s shoulder before she could collapse her screens. It had only been a glance, but it was long enough to know  _ exactly _ why he wouldn’t be of any help. “THIS is what you’ve been working on?” He gasped abruptly, startling both Alteans and earning an exasperated groan from the young gremlin. “How did you even get this?” A memory of Sendak in the cryopods flashed before his eyes.

Guilty looks were exchanged between Pidge and Allura, but no words were spoken. Keith waited, staring between the two of them. “Allura, you know it’s wrong! How could you?”

“What is so wrong with it?” Romelle piped up from her seat at the end of the table, stifling a yawn as she did so. “Memory extraction is a very common practice. We are simply trying to reconstruct the method used by the Castle of Lions for interacting with King Alfor’s memories. Once we succeed we will be able to use it to interpret the data already collected from that mean purple Commander guy. I do not see the problem.”

“Because you’re a quiznaking Altean!” He nearly shouted in return - nearly. The frustration was clear in his tone but Keith managed to remain as calm as possible. It wasn’t Romelle he was upset with, like Pidge she didn’t  _ really _ understand what this meant to a Galra. But Allura did. His voice echoed off the multitude of servers in the vast, but otherwise empty, room as his volume became more difficult to control. “Allura, we  _ talked _ about this, I  _ told _ you how wrong it is!” He insisted.

“And I told you that memory extraction is an Altean tradition.”

“But the Commander isn’t Altean, he’s Galra, and Galra don’t quiznaking dig around inside each other’s heads to steal memories! It’s twisted and wrong!”

“It’s the only way we’re going to find out what he’s planning.” She shot back, her patience starting to wane. Allura took a deep breath, closing her eyes and raising a hand to rub at her temple in a soothing motion. Her voice dropped lower and Keith could hear the exhaustion echoing in it. “This is exactly why we decided not to tell you.”

“Keith, just go. We really need to finish up here and get some sleep.” Pidge interjected, their voice soft but firm, gentle but resolute, leaving no room for argument. He turned a scrutinizing stare their way before sighing heavily in frustration.

“This isn’t right.” He insisted and scowled at the screens for about 30 tension filled tics before finally letting out another heavy exhale and stalking out of the room, cursing under his breath the entire way to the exit.

The door unsatisfyingly slid shut behind him and Keith let out a loud hiss as he kicked the wall in growing frustration. They never listened;  _ Allura _ never listened. She just did what she thought was right, regardless of anyone else’s beliefs. It was such a quintessentially “Altean” mind set. They had always seen themselves as righteous and therefore justified in any action they took. Even before tensions began to rise between their two species they’d looked down on the Galra for what they labeled more  _ brutish  _ tendencies. A society that favoured academic achievements vs a society that favoured militaristic achievements. No wonder they’d clashed. 

But Alfor and Zarkon had made it work, they’d been close friends and even commanded Voltron together. Allura tended to look past Keith’s more violent habits, so why then couldn’t he look past this? Simply put, it was because this was  _ different _ . This wasn’t about charging into battle without thinking (Keith), or being overly bossy (Allura), or coming across as slightly rude and uncaring (Keith), or even about being speciesist (Allura). It was about messing around with someone’s memories, the parts of a person’s mind that make them distinctly  _ them. _ And it was something Keith just couldn’t accept. There were some lines you just didn’t cross and  _ of course _ it had taken an Altean to push the druid’s into mind control,  _ of course  _ it had taken Haggar - Honerva, to push the druids into her twisted version of Altean alchemy. 

But Allura was NOT Honerva. She was kind and good and also arrogant and stubborn. This was going to happen with or without his support. He gave the wall one last kick, releasing with it the remainder of his frustrations. The two Garrison staff on patrol duty gave him a startled look, but otherwise carried on their way, actively avoiding the young Galra and Keith rolled his eyes. 

“Okay, so like, you gonna explain what that was all about?” Hunk asked cautiously. His strong hands came to grasp firmly on either shoulder as he stared Keith down, concern set deep in his eyes. 

The agitated Red Paladin let out an indignant huff, less than a varga ago their rolls had been reversed. “I don’t care how evil Sendak is, it’s just  _ wrong _ to mess around with someone’s consciousness like that. Forcefully taking his memories and tinkering with them for your own benefit; how do they justify it to themselves?” he asked in exasperation.

“Well you know Allura, she’s just doing what she sees as the right thing to do.”

“That’s the problem! She’s Altean, she should just stay out of this! Leave it to the Humans of Earth and us Galra, just do what we tell her to. She has no business meddling.”

“Well, I mean, she kinda does since, you know - Voltron is Altean and all that.”

Keith rolled his eyes again. “I'm going back to bed.” Quintants of little to no sleep were taking their toll.

Hunk nodded, squeezing his shoulders slightly for support. It felt nice. “Yeah, yeah that’s probably a good idea.” He turned abruptly and started making his way back to the residential halls alongside Keith.

“Aren’t you staying to help?” 

“Nah, now that I’ve calmed down myself, I’m suddenly super tired.” Hunk punctuated his words with a very loud, very exaggerated yawn. Forming his hands into tight fists and throwing his large arms wide over his head, he arched his back as the caverns of Drogli swallowed his face.

* * *

Morning came and with it, another quintant spent in the Galaxy Garrison’s massive war room. Keith had reluctantly made his way to the cafeteria after being quite literally dragged from his bed by Regris. “ _ I don't know where to go! _ ” He’d complained. “ _ Get your quiznaking ass out of bed! _ ” He’d demanded. “ _ Keeeeeith! Come on!! _ ” He’d whined. Finally the tired Red Paladin stumbled his way through getting dressed, blindly navigated the route to the cafeteria solely from muscle memory, and halfheartedly stuffed his face with a balanced breakfast of bacon, oatmeal, sausages, hash browns, pancakes, and a soup bowl full of scrambled eggs. All washed down with a large glass of orange juice and a gallon or five of piping hot black coffee. 

This quintant’s meeting was supposed to be the last one. After this, their plans for defeating Sendak should be finalized and ready to be put into action. Phase 1 of the plan had already been set in motion. The MFE upgrades were ready for testing, a rudimentary particle barrier was nearly completed, and the schematics had already been sent out to the other Galaxy Garrison bases across the planet. The hope was that, even without the assistance of actual aliens at their bases, the designs assembled by Coran, Regris, and Matt would be sufficient enough for them to build the weapons, aircraft, and defences needed for Phase 3.

The groundwork for Phase 2 had already been laid out and mostly finalized, all they really needed to do was hammer out a few more details such as timing and the specifics of  _ who  _ would be participating and  _ why _ they would be chosen. Everyone had different nominees and each nominee came with varying levels of support and justifications. It had already been decided that the hiding Blades would be essential to any plan’s success and surprisingly, Sanda was proving incredibly agreeable. He’d overheard a conversation between Commander Iverson and his father about it. Kolt had suggested it was a trick, Iverson had come to the Admiral’s defence saying that her ultimate goal was the protection and liberation of Earth and that she would do whatever it takes, even if that meant working side by side with actual aliens. 

Keith was inclined to agree. Admiral Sanda was an uptight bitch, for lack of a better word, but she wasn’t unreasonable. He’d come to see that during his time at the Garrison and it was even clearer now than ever. Sure, at the start she had made everything far more difficult than it needed to be, but he supposed her mind set was understandable - not  _ justifiable, _ but understandable. If Earthlings had come and attacked his base he’d be pretty loath to trust any Humans that offered a plan of attack. He still didn’t like her though.

A sharp poke in the ribs caught his attention. “Pay attention, Kogane.” James scolded from behind tightly clenched teeth. Keith just rolled his eyes. How in the ever-loving hell did he get stuck on this side of the table? All of the other members of team Voltron were on the far side, but he and Reg were nearer the door, having arrived mere dobashes before the meeting was to start. 

Regris was standing directly behind him (the Halfling’s tail made it difficult to sit in the Garrison’s boardroom chairs), while Nadia was seated next to Keith on his left. She was snickering quietly to herself as he grumbled. In the time since he’d zoned out, Allura and Pidge had made their way to the front of the room and placed a small device down at the edge of the long table. Pidge dropped to their hands and knees, crawling under the table and reaching for an outlet in the floor directly in the centre of the carpet. The moment it was activated, the room was filled with the too-bright blue light that he’d come to associate with Altean tech. 

“We have not been able to test our program as of yet.” The princess prefaced. “However we are certain that it will work. Combining Altean technological theory with Earth devices and circuitry was a difficult hurdle to overcome, but we managed.” She smiled broadly across the room while the tiny Green Paladin rapidly tapped away at their handheld device, entering in the final sequences to begin the program. Keith knew what it most likely was, but the other Galra in the room did not, and he had a sinking suspicion this was not going to go well. He’d tried to warn Allura after breakfast, but she had simply brushed him off with “ _ we put far too much work into this project to abandon it now _ ” and he really didn’t care to argue about it any further. 

The beeping intensified and suddenly, a large holographic image of Commander Sendak was standing atop the head of the war room’s large table. “Ah-ha!” Pidge shouted. “Success!”

A chorus of “Amazing” and “Woah” was muttered throughout the room while a sprinkling of surprised gasps and fearful inhales punctuated the sentiments. 

Pidge turned to face the crowd and began to explain the specifics of how they’d found a way to mimic the method used by the Castle of Lions to interact with King Alfor’s memories. Reverse engineering a much more basic version for their own use with Sendak’s. Krolia had gone rigid and Plak’s jaw was on the floor, both of their faces turning quite pale. But Keith was most disturbed by the sudden stillness of Regris’s tail behind him. “Let’s test it out. Would you like to do the honours, Princess?” Pidge asked excitedly and Allura nodded, giving a kind smile in return as she stepped closer to the device. “Just, ask him a question.”

“Who are you?” She asked.

< I am Commander Sendak, a loyal officer to the Galra Empire. > The hulking hologram replied. Its voice was odd, a strangely unnerving blend of Sendak’s true voice with an obviously robotic tone and a distracting amount of background static.

“It’s not as crisp as the Castle of Lions, but it should do the trick.” Pidge explained. “These memories were extracted back on the Castle well over a year ago - almost two actually. So the information won’t be super up-to-date but it’s all we’ve got.”

“Admiral Sanda, As the highest ranking Earth Official, would you care to ask a few questions?” Allura directed the conversation to the Admiral and a proud grin spread across her stern face. She gave a curt nod and lifted her head to gaze up into the glowing blue, and slightly transparent, form of the Commander.

“Where are you from?” She asked.

< I am proud to say I was born with unquestionable Galra lineage > His arrogance shone through even as a hologram. Keith rolled his eyes and Regris hissed quietly at the figure, tail twitching in agitation.

“Explain your methods for conquering planets.” Sanda continued.

< There are as many ways to conquer a planet as there are planets themselves. Primitive species are the easiest. It usually doesn’t take more than one or two waves of attack to bring them to their knees. >

Keith could see the room becoming more uncomfortable as the Commander spoke. “What about more advanced civilizations?” Allura pressed.

< There are always those willing to sacrifice themselves for the “greater good”. That’s why it is best to find something they value more than themselves and make  _ that _ the target. >

Murmurings were beginning amongst those present and a deep frown was settling in on Krolia’s face, her yellow eyes flicking over to the Princess and Admiral from time to time. “What do you mean?” Pidge prompted, her voice laced with indignation. 

< Citizens of advanced civilizations have the weakness of caring for each other. >

The questions went back and forth for vargas, Keith’s neck becoming sore from turning to the left for so long, his butt falling numb from prolonged sitting, and his legs growing restless as he yearned to  _ move _ . He tapped his claws on the table, earning a few glares that he pointedly ignored, and listened to the back and forth between the Admiral, the Princess, the Paladin, and the Commander. The three of them continued with question after question, some coming from the others present in the room, others coming from a list Pidge had drafted in advance. 

Certain questions earned more dramatic reactions to Sendak’s answers, but so far nothing Sendak said had been incorrect or an outright lie. In fact, most of it made complete sense and even lined up with the policies of the Blade of Marmora. He was starting to see that it was the base level of Galra culture and values that the Humans and Alteans were objecting to the most.

That revelation made him slightly uncomfortable.

“A military operation of that scale takes immense time and resources.” Pidge’s voice cut into his train of thought and pulled him back to the present where his butt and neck were still hurting. He scowled to himself as Sendak replied.

< Our operations reply on the resources of the planet. They become our supplies and feed our occupation. > again,  _ completely valid and reasonable.  _ They were getting nowhere with this; violating Sendak’s consciousness for absolutely no benefit.

“Have you ever failed in over taking a planet?” Admiral Sanda asked and Sendak spat out something Keith had learned at the Blade’s academy, word for word. 

< Tenacity and time conquer all foes. > He had to stop himself from whispering the words alongside the Commander. It was something the Empire taught to their soldiers as a justification to never give up on an invasion. It was also something the Blade had held onto and adopted as a justification for continuing their cause even when it seemed like they would never win. Surrender just wasn’t the Galra way - Victory or Death.

“What if a planet refuses to give up, no matter the cost?” Allura spoke with a carefully masked tone. At the sound of her question, silence came over them all, each one of them desperate to hear the answer, others fearing they already knew what it would be and Keith had to shake his head in disbelief. She was not going to like the Commander’s response. 

< If a planet refuses to give up, then we annihilate it. But only one planet has ever refused: Altea. >

The hologram immediately deactivated as Allura removed the plug from the device, a pained look on her face. “I’m sorry, I think I need a break.” She turned to leave the boardroom but Krolia rose to her feet, a focused look in her eyes.

“Take your seat, Princess” She commanded, her tone stern and unyielding. “You subjected myself, and my fellow Galra, to this display knowing full well how we’d feel about it and the cultural implications.” She gestured towards the device that now stored Sendak’s memories. “What did you expect the Commander would say to such a question? We need to make the final decisions for our plan of attack, and your presence is needed. Take your seat.” 

Allura looked back at her in shock before she blushed from having been called out. “Very well.” She replied and took her seat as directed. “Where do we stand in our plans so far?”

The room was silent but Krolia gave the princess a small, soft nod; the kind of nod a Galran mother would give their child to show appreciation for their compliance. It was weird to see such an action directed to the Altean Princess. The sentiment was not lost on Allura and she returned the gesture in kind. Krolia, still standing, walked around the table to stand at the head, where Sendak’s hologram had just been. She turned to face the attendees and began to explain the agreed upon details in her most authoritative voice. Unlike Allura, Krolia spoke in English.

“A Blade of Marmora operative will be retrieved from the satellite Titan and brought back to Earth -”

“We do not need  _ more _ Galra here.” One of the Garrison Officers spoke up, cutting her off. Krolia paused momentarily to growl at them for the interruption but carried on as if nothing had been said.

“- so they may be briefed on the plans and their role within it. The other operatives will be given a device created by Regris and the Holt siblings.” She gestered to Regris who had silently moved from behind Keith at some point to stand nearer the screens at the front, beside Krolia. 

He looked incredibly uncomfortable with the attention. “The device emits a strong, but undetectable, pulse of energy.” He began, pulling up the schematics on the large screen behind them. “Once activated, it will shatter any crystalline structure it is put in direct contact with. When placed on the balmeran crystal in the ship's central hub, it will destroy it - effectively shutting off the engines and disabling both the weapons and communications systems, rendering the ship “dead water” as you Humans say.” There was a round of barely stifled snickers from the Garrison personnel and Paladins, even Krolia smirked slightly before dismissing Regris with an appreciative nod.

She turned back to face the room as Regris returned to his place behind Keith. “The Blade of Marmora will plant these devices on the primary crystal in each ship’s central hub as well on the smaller emergency backup crystal. Once their confirmation signal has been received, we will proceed with Phase 2.” Behind her, the large screen activated to show many, many video calls open, each revealing an identical boardroom filled with highly ranked Galaxy Garrison personnel. In the background of each screen were flags from across the planet. Some he recognized and others he did not. There was Japan, Germany, the UK, Russia, a blue flag that was mostly covered by the very large Admiral sitting directly in front of it, several more that he recognized but couldn't place, China, India, and of course a small collection of flags that were perfectly identical aside from their colour scheme.

This time the nudge to his ribs came from the other side as Nadia leaned in to whisper “Oh look - your  _ home country _ of Denmark” with a sly grin on her face. Keith just rolled his eyes but smirked nonetheless. 

“Phase 2 will consist of five tactical teams being transported to the ships orbiting Earth. Commander Tragok’s fleet consists of 2 cruisers, while Sendak boasts 3 plus his flagship. A total of 6 ships. Since Galran technology is genetically encoded to our species, each team will include one Paladin, one Human, One Galra. We currently have three Galra present on Earth and with the addition of two extra Blades we will have enough personnel to accomplish our goals.”

“There are four Galra at the Garrison, not three.” One of the Officers unwisely interrupted, causing Krolia to glare menacingly in their direction as the individual gave Keith the stink eye. 

“I am able to perform basic mathematics, thank you very much.” She seethed. “My son is not included in these numbers as he is instead being grouped with his fellow Voltron Paladins. I will NOT tolerate any further interruptions.” Krolia paused, letting her fierce intensity wash over the room before beginning again, picking up where she had left off. 

“The five teams will use the Lions of Voltron’s cloaking abilities to fly undetected. All five Paladins will remain in their Lions as the other two members of each team infiltrate their respective cruiser to place the device on the balmeran crystal in the central hub. It is imperative that the blasts are coordinated to detonate at precisely the same time so as not to alert Sendak’s flagship of our attack. Once this is complete, all teams are to return to their Lion which will depart from the cruisers 15 dobashes after detonation. Not a tic longer. Anyone who does not return to their Lion will be left behind and ideally retrieved after the battle.” Plak and Regris were nodding along but the various Garrison staff stared in unmasked horror. Keith turned to look back at his powerful and authoritative mother, catching a pair of familiar eyes on him. He moved his focus to his father, returning his small smile and rolling his eyes at the eyebrow waggle the man directed towards Krolia.

“Keith. Focus.” The aforementioned tyrant demanded. “I asked you a simple question.”

“Sorry.” he muttered as his father stifled a snicker.

“Kolton.” She turned her ire on him and he threw his hands up in mock surrender. “Feet off the table. Chair on all four legs. Stop distracting Keith.” 

The shit eating grin never left his face as the seat returned to an upright position and strong legs unfolded from the table top, his hands coming down to his sides from where they had been laced behind his neck. “Yes Ma’am.” He replied with a wink and Keith couldn’t help but groan.

“Keith - do you agree with the Blue Paladin’s suggestion?”

“Uh, no?” He honestly hadn’t heard what Lance offered but decided to disagree with him on principle. A loud “ _ WHAT? _ ” echoed from where the Cuban had shrieked in disbelief. 

Krolia gave him a levelled stare. “Noted. I move to proceed with the suggestion put forth by the Blue Paladin. All in favour?” A round of agreement swept the room and Krolia nodded her approval. “Very well. Green Paladin - it is agreed that you will be the one to drop off the device to the satellite Titan and retrieve the Blade of Marmora operatives joining our infiltration team. Do you object to the nomination?” Pidge shook their head. “Excellent. Then it is decided. The exchange is to take place this quintant. I will contact our operatives to inform them of the plan and ensure they are ready for departure. MFE pilots -” Keith felt Nadia and James stiffen on either side of him. “- are you prepared for your test flights? Have you gone over the predetermined route? You are aware of the risks involved? And you accept your assignment? Excellent.” 

The four MFE pilots replied with a “Yes Ma’am” in perfect unison to each of her questions and Krolia grinned at their cohesiveness, a trait the Galra demanded from their soldiers. These Cadets had won her respect more than the much higher ranked Officers who’d kept interrupting ever would.

“Right. Now, as for Phase 3 ...” 


	5. Preparations Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith had been disappointed to learn that he once again classed as a Paladin and would therefore not be privy to the information being exchanged. What did a guy have to do to be considered essential personnel? Be a member of the exclusive organization that was having the meeting? - _check_ \- Be (or have been) a member of the Galaxy Garrison? - _check_ \- Be an integral part of the upcoming plan of attack? - _check_ \- Be a literal hybrid between the two most pivotal species involved? - _quiznaking check_!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** Trigger warning for descriptions of decomposition. It's not very detailed but if you wish to skip it follow the ~ markers. One at the start and one at the end.

Krolia had continued to direct the rest of the meeting. Debating back and forth with Allura and the Garrison Command until they finally, _finally_ , hashed out a mutually agreed upon plan. The other Galaxy Garrison bases had been given their directives and everything was set in motion to bring about Earth’s liberation. The room was dismissed with instructions for specific preparatory assignments, while the Garrison senior command hung back to discuss other things. Things team Voltron _“didn’t have the clearance”_ to know. 

All five Paladins had been ordered to their lions; Pidge assigned to retrieve the additional Blade of Marmora operatives, and the others to surveil in case of emergency. Red being the fastest of the lions meant Keith had been instructed to monitor Pidge, while Yellow as the slowest had Hunk watching the local MFE pilots. Since Blue and Black were both faster than Yellow, Lance and Shiro were assigned the other four Garrison bases between them. 

After a short detour to his dorm, Keith found himself practically skipping with elation as he made his way through the winding train tunnels under the compound; his paladin armour a welcome change from the restricting Cadet uniform. In the back of his mind Keith could feel Red’s anxious purring grow louder with each step. Their time at the Garrison was now the longest he’d ever been separated from Red since becoming her Paladin and _Stars_ he’d missed her.

Their procession was organized with Hunk and Shiro each pulling a small cart stacked with the large wooden crates storing the devices they were to load into the Green Lion. Lance prowled directly in front of them with his rifle aimed and ready, using its viewfinder to scan the many dark corners in the maze of tunnels, searching for any sign of hostiles. Pidge typed feverishly into a handheld device, orange light illuminating their face in a childish way aided by the fact that they had climbed atop one of the crates on Shiro’s cart. Perched with their legs folded under them, the tiny tech worked away, occasionally grumbling as the cart was jostled, and nearly falling off entirely after a particularly sharp turn.

Keith was leading the charge, sword drawn, and blood singing in his veins as he stalked through the dark tunnels. Lance, Hunk, and Shiro had turned on the night vision in their helmet’s visor but Keith didn’t need it, his golden eyes glowed softly as he carefully scanned his surroundings. So far they hadn’t come across anything other than the odd rat; a rather large one had been dubbed “Splinter” by Lance. The further into the tunnels they progressed, the stronger the underlying smell became. What had started as a faint odour clinging to the still air had now become nearly palpable and distinct. So very distinct. 

~ Skip Mark ~

Keith had gotten used to fighting battles that he could just walk away from, not having to stay behind and deal with the “clean up”. This particular smell was one he hadn’t had to endure for quite some time and, though he’d had plenty of training on handling his stomach, it was a difficult one to get used to.

“OH GOD! What the quiznak is that?” Hunk gasped as he and the rest of the group caught up. “Ugh, it’s filtering in through my helmet - _huuyuuk -_ I’m gonna be sick!” Before Keith could turn around and stop him Hunk had already removed his helmet, emptying the contents of his stomach in the middle of the tracks. “Oh - oh man, oh it’s so much worse now!” He cried out as his entire body lurched once again. 

Lance was babbling on about the stench and Pidge was switching their helmet settings to seal out the air of the tunnels. But Shiro - Shiro had gone very still and very pale.

“Ugh, what _is_ that!!” Hunk cried again. “It smells like … like … I don’t even have a reference! It just smells terrible!” He was shaking his head, one arm resting against the wall of the tunnel with his helmet gripped loosely in the other as sweat beaded on his forehead. Keith could see his dark skin take on a slightly green tint. Humans were fascinating.

“Decomp.” The young Galra dismissed as he moved to place a hand on Shiro’s shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze in the same comforting way the man had done for him so many times. He didn’t understand why they did this, but it had always managed to make him feel more grounded, like he wasn’t alone. The gesture seemed to have the same effect on their Black Paladin as the far off glaze started to filter from his eyes and a more alert expression came over him. Shiro gave a short nod and a small smile, mouthing “ _I’m okay_ ” to him in the process. Keith nodded in response and turned back to the others. “Come on, we’re on a tight schedule!” he barked, urging them to proceed.

They continued on once again with a slight adjustment to their procession. Hunk was far too shaky from emptying his stomach contents and thus switched roles with Lance who was surprisingly stronger than his noodle arms would suggest. Keith warned Hunk not to look at the ground, to keep his head up, and to switch his helmet to “vacuum” mode like Pidge had. That was one of the biggest perks of fighting in space; nothing really decayed. There were no unpleasant smells to encounter and space itself was vast, mostly empty, and damn good at locking away foul odours. 

~ /Skip Mark ~

After several more dobashes, Keith could see the soft rainbow glow of five vibrant particle barriers just around the corner and, along with the others, let out a sigh of relief. Each of them no doubt feeling the same sense of excitement to be back in the presence of their lions. Red was elated, he could almost see a projection of a glowing red lioness smashing her head against him, rubbing her body against his legs, and caressing his back with her tail. The purr in his mind was so loud he nearly blushed. Nearly.

After a brief reunion, the team got to work loading crate after crate into Green’s cargo hold, being sure to place two devices in each of their own lions for phase 2. Once they had finished, Pidge radioed the Garrison command and waited for their signal to launch. 

Though he hated to admit it, Lance had been right in nominating Pidge; they were the only one with a reasonable cover story. If Green were to be captured, Pidge was to say that they’d come against the team’s wishes in an attempt to rescue their father; declaring that the rest of Voltron was back at Central Command working on a new plan after the “defeat” of the ships Emperor Thace had offered. Ultimately, the presence of the other Lions was NOT to be disclosed. 

The signal came and Pidge vanished from view as Green’s cloaking was activated. Red’s screen showed a shimmery green silhouette launching out of the tunnel entrance and in a matter of tics, the Green Lion was zipping past the Garrison’s lunar base. 

Even with their cloaking it was still a risky trip. The two arms were faster than the other lions and, though they had much less armour, with Voltron’s shield on her back Green would be able to withstand more damage than Red. Keith hated not being able to help, or even do _anything_ for that matter, but it was imperative that the other Lions not depart unless absolutely necessary. So he let out a huff and monitored his screen and coms for any, _any_ , signs of distress from Pidge. 

It didn't take long before they received another signal, this one alerting them that the MFE pilots were clear to begin the test flights. Red’s screen lit up with security footage from the Garrison’s surveillance systems, showing the four Cadet’s exit the hangar and climb into their respective jets. One by one their engines lit up; a brightly glowing yellow-orange emitting from them that was almost the same shade as their hideous uniforms. The fighters moved into formation and the intensity of the light from their engines increased drastically as they shot out of the security provided by the Garrison.

James was in the lead, flanked by Nadia and Ryan on either side with Ina taking up the rear. They flew some quick drills to test the responsiveness of the crafts before zooming over the small mountain outcroppings to test their short range weaponry. Keith surveyed the skies with Red’s tech, checking for any prying eyes that may be watching. Though nothing came up, he remained vigilant; performing a full scan every few dobashes incase of changes. 

_“Taxi is here.”_ He heard Pidge’s voice announce over the coms and snapped himself back to his assigned mission. The MFE pilots were Hunk’s charge, not his. Activating one of the many view options on his dashboard, Keith was able to see the screens of the Green Lion, providing him the same view as Pidge. He watched as Green tentatively approached Titan, descending through the thick atmosphere and landing in one of the craters that littered the moon's surface. _“Touch down!”_ Pidge announced again. 

“Confirmed.” Keith called in reply.

A group of masked Blades gathered at the base of the lion’s cargo hold and Keith watched as they unloaded the crates, opening them up and dividing the contents amongst the various fighter pods resting on the moon. Two Blades, one slightly smaller than all the others, stood before the Green Lion’s mighty jaws and the ramp lowered to allow access. It didn’t take long, possibly 15 dobashes in total, before they’d finished unloading the devices and Pidge gave a quick (but thorough) run through of their functionality. Regris had been sure to program them in a similar fashion to most of the Blade’s explosives, ensuring their use to be rather intuitive for the Operatives planting them. Keith could tell by Pidge’s word choice that they disagreed with his methods. Ultimately Galran tech was vastly different from Human or even Altean tech and, since it was exclusively Galra using the device, Regis had won. 

_“Kitty Verde is good to go! Take off in 3 … 2 … 1 - BLAST OFF!!”_

“Confirmed.”

Keith switched the view back to the monitoring screen and felt his eyes drift towards the MFE pilots once again. Their test flight was nearing completion and the team was preparing to make their way back to the Garrison’s base. Over the past few quintants a thunderstorm had been brewing, threatening to break. Even though it provided the perfect cover for the missions by interfering with signals, it also made the test flights riskier than they already were.

He had to remind himself to focus on Pidge. While he cared about Nadia and Ina’s safety, the MFE squad was in good hands and ultimately not his responsibility. Keith switched between screens, flipping his view from the MFE’s back to Green, then to the imaging of the land above them, then back to Green, then to the weather radar maps, then back to Green, then to the Garrison’s security cameras, then back to Green, then to the four other test flights happening simultaneously at other bases, and finally back to Green once again as the lion slipped silently past the waiting fleet. 

So far things had gone incredibly smoothly and it only served to make him more nervous. Their arrival had remained secret, the development of the particle barriers had gone well, the other bases had nearly completed setting up their own defences, and something was bound to give. His gut insisted on it.

Keith watched as all four jets landed smoothly; their brakes working overtime to stop each speeding aircraft as they skimmed along the runway holding tightly in formation. It was clear that the quartet communicated effectively, were all approximately equally skilled, and worked well with one another. Their control and teamwork was impressive. He would make a point of telling Nadia and Ina how proud he was of them, maybe even slide a compliment Ryan’s way. But not James; he was still a dick.

“Greens back.” Keith announced to the Garrison staff and Commander Iverson acknowledged in return. He watched the colour coded shimmer on his screen that was meant to represent their cloaked teammate as the Lion entered the old tunnel system and returned to their hiding place under the abandoned station. Green’s particle barrier activated the moment her crew exited, and the other Lions followed suit after their Paladins stepped out.

Keith scanned the dark tunnel, his eyes glowing slightly even in the faint light given off by the Lion’s. Their new arrivals remained had exited behind Pidge and masked and silent, following the paladins back to the Garrison base without a word. 

His assessment from the screens had proven correct; one was significantly smaller than the other. The larger loomed over Shiro, their towering height and broad chest reminded Keith of Antok, though they lacked a tail. The other seemed midway between Lance and Hunk with a slight build and a clearly feminine gate as they swayed their hips with each unsettlingly familiar step. 

The return trip was much quicker seeing as they were unencumbered by crates of explosives, and they made it back to the Garrison in nearly half the time. Hunk, Lance, Shiro, and Keith sealed off the tunnel entrance once again before the entire party made their way inside the compound.

Behind him he could hear the two Blade’s murmuring back and forth in Galran. First they complained about the freight elevator and Earth’s rather primitive tech, then marvelled at the heat of the Texas desert baking down on the tarmac, and finally theorized about the Humans. Keith fought back a snicker as he totally didn’t eavesdrop. Luckily for them, the two operatives were speaking quietly enough that none of the Humans would be able to overhear lest their Altean Paladin armour translate every word.

The closer they drew to the Garrison proper, the more fully-armed guards they came across. Keith rolled his eyes at the show of arms and continued to march alongside his comrades, leading their new arrivals further into the base. He heard the odd muttering from the two Blades in tow, but mostly they continued in silence; the rhythmic pattern of their boot falls announcing their arrival around each turn. Cadets gawked from inside classrooms, soldiers turned their heads to watch the procession, and Keith felt as though they were on display - again. The entire ordeal reminded him of their own arrival to the Garrison. 

Admiral Sanda had instructed Shiro to lead their team, announcing as if it were a command that as the most senior officer in their party he was in a position of authority over the others. Keith wanted to comment, he wanted so badly to point out that _DUH_ of course Shiro was in charge. But he bit his tongue like a good soldier and was instead left dumbstruck when the annoyed Princess spoke up to explain the role of the Black Paladin. Allura was not used to being submissive to an outside authority and, while she tried her best to hide it, the frustration had been clear in her tone. 

Under Shiro’s direction the Paladins made their way to the primary briefing room where Krolia, Plak, and Regris were waiting for them. The lighting had been dimmed considerably from its normal level during briefings and he sighed at the relief he felt, no longer needing to squint against the harsh fluorescence. 

“Welcome. Take your seats.” Krolia announced in Galran and gave a confused look as the Paladins began pulling out chairs and generally making themselves comfortable. “Let me clarify - Blades: take your seats. Paladins: you are dismissed.” Keith smirked a little to himself as he watched the others rise from their seats and head out the door, grumbling the entire way.

* * *

Keith had been disappointed to learn that he once again classed as a Paladin and would therefore not be privy to the information being exchanged. What did a guy have to do to be considered essential personnel? Be a member of the exclusive organization that was having the meeting? _\- check_ \- Be (or have been) a member of the Galaxy Garrison? _\- check_ \- Be an integral part of the upcoming plan of attack? _\- check_ \- Be a literal hybrid between the two most pivotal species involved? _\- quiznaking check_ !!! Honestly, there hadn’t been a single Human in that room! Who was going to correct them if they overlooked something the Humans may take offence to? Well, in that case it would probably be best for Shiro to be present, but Keith had _some_ knowledge of Humans at least. 

Without him being the voice of reason who would stop Regris from making things needlessly complicated? Or stop Plak from most likely hitting on either (or let’s face it: both) of the new Blades? Or remind Krolia that the Humans were technically in charge and that she still needed to consider them in her plans? Not Keith, that’s for sure; because he was dismissed with his fellow Paladins. Not that he’s bitter in any way.

… Maybe just a little.

As it turned out, his presence was probably needed. The two mystery Blades revealed themselves to be a high ranking operative that Keith had never met before but had heard many, many impressive stories about, and Acxa; Lotor’s former top General. Briefly he wondered if the Garrison Command had been made aware of her not-so-distant allegiance? Likely not.

With the addition of two new non Human personnel, the sleeping arrangements needed adjusting. Plak insisted that, because Hunk had taken him on an extensive tour of the grounds, he had adequate knowledge to navigate on his own. This, coupled with the implementation of their Common / English translator program, meant he was offering his shared room with Hunk to Lahndik. On the surface it seemed quite generous and sacrificial of him - until Keith realized that would pair Plak and Acxa as roommates. He levelled a knowing stare at his former mentor who grinned unapologetically back at him. At least they’d be able to communicate.

* * *

Keith hated this feeling; this tension that started quietly in the back of his mind but had continued to grow, to fester, until it was gnawing at his consciousness. He longed to be back on Central Command, or one of the Blade bases, hell he’d even take the quiznaking Castle of Lions right now if it meant access to a training deck. All he wanted to was to run, or fight, or scream. Something, _anything_ , to alleviate the incessant feeling of anxiety he’d been plagued with. 

Nothing was helping. He’d tried retreating back to the roof again for some much needed peace and quiet, he’d tried joining in on a combat training class if only to find a decent sparring partner, and he’d even tried running up and down the residence halls. But alas, nothing worked.

Phase 2 was supposed to begin tomorrow and Keith was practically _begging_ the stars to make time go faster. Anything to actually feel useful. The Garrison Command, Krolia, Allura, Plak, and Shiro had been in and out of meetings all quintant but none of the others were permitted to attend; not even Coran or Matt. Apparently Sanda didn't want Matt interjecting into their plans, something about being distracted or biased towards finding his father. Which, honestly, Keith couldn’t fault him one bit. If it had been Krolia or Kolt being held by Sendak you could bet your ass Keith would have charged that ship eons ago. Actually, the mere fact that all three Holts weren’t melting the Admiral’s face off like a bunch of angry weblums was a testament to their collective character. 

Keith lay on his bed staring up at the bars of the top bunk above him. Regris was with Hunk and Coran down by the particle barrier working on something technical that Keith didn’t understand nor care about. He knew the others were off doing their own things as well, various projects they each determined helpful or necessary, but there was literally nothing for him to contribute and the growing frustration was starting to make him go bonkers. 

A single, confident knock on the door told him the visitor was most likely Galra and he groaned out an _“enter”_ in his native tongue. Expecting his roommate, Keith was mildly taken aback to find the late Prince’s former General standing in the entryway and looking every bit the frustrated alien she was. After nearly two movements of speaking exclusively English or Common, Keith welcomed the ease of slipping back into Galran. 

“You are lounging?” She said in lieu of a greeting, her voice laced with the custom mix of exasperation and indifference she’d been known for. Keith merely shrugged in response and turned his attention back to the very interesting bars above him. “Come; make better use of your time by showing me around this prison.”

“It’s a military academy.” he replied offhandedly, not bothering to move his gaze in her direction.

A not-at-all-subtle huff sounded from the doorway. “We are not allowed the freedom to wear our own garments or speak our own language and we are watched by armed guards at all times: Prison! Come, Red Paladin.” _Well she wasn’t wrong_ he thought to himself as he groaned and pushed up from the bed.

Forgoing the more Human habits he’d picked up, Keith met her gaze as he stated his name, not feeling the need to elaborate further as he knew Acxa would understand. “Keith.”

She responded with a curt nod. “I know your name, I was being polite.” With nothing better to do, he resigned himself to leading the former General turned Blade on a guided tour of the Galaxy Garrison; thankful for the distraction from his growing anxiety.

* * *

Their tour ended in the cafeteria, as most tours did, and the pair of half-Galra sat at a small table off to the side eating various meats that had been set out for the Cadet’s scheduled lunch. Between the two of them they had managed to clear the buffet of bacon and nearly all of the roast beef slices, with the vast majority of the former being piled on Acxa’s plate. The blue skinned woman inhaled her lunch, marvelling at the rich smoky taste and the crisp texture. 

Keith thought back fondly to his first experience with bacon after arriving on Earth. His father had taken him to a small diner in Plat city before an exhausting day of shopping and forced socialization. He wasn’t sure what Acxa’s other parentage was, which made knowing what she could and could not eat a little more difficult, but she seemed to enjoy the food nonetheless. Almost everything here was safe for Keith given that the food was meant for Humans and he was both Galra and Human. The Galra members stuck mostly to meats while the Alteans ate exclusively fruits and veggies. 

Acxa had asked a few identifying questions about dishes, piling some on her plate and scowling in disgust at others. Under different circumstances he might even find it interesting to categorize the differences between himself, Regris, and Acxa compared to the Humans and full Galra. While Reg ate a lot of fruit, Acxa preferred root vegetables. In fact, her tastes seemed to line up rather closely with his own. Whatever her other parentage - they was clearly quite similar to Humans. 

They chatted amongst themselves as they ate and while their meal progressed, more and more Cadets filed into the large cafeteria. Most paid them no mind, having already become accustomed to seeing colourful aliens parading around campus, while others stared intently at the newest addition. Said new addition had squared her shoulders and straightened her back as a group of four young Humans made for their secluded little table, lunch trays in hand. 

Though most probably wouldn't notice, Keith could _feel_ how uncomfortable Acxa had become; the tension radiating off her nearly palpable. In an effort to calm her nerves he whispered at a level none of the others could hear.

“These are the MFE pilots. They’re around my age.” When she levelled a blank stare at him, Keith elaborated. “Human adolescents. Approximately 20 deca-phoebs old.” Her eyes widened at the revelation and she muttered _“Kits”_ under her breath as her shoulders relaxed.

“I assume your age is why both Commander Krolia and Lieutenant Plak are so protective of you?” she asked after a beat and Keith didn’t know whether or not he felt offended. On one hand he genuinely was considered very young by Galra standards, on the other hand he was a competent and accomplished soldier.

“Krolia is my mother and Plak was my former trainer and mentor. They are protective because they are family.” She nodded in understanding at his explanation. The four MFE pilots continued in their approach and a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Oh, Acxa - make sure you speak Common when they sit down. The translator doesn’t do Galran.”

* * *

He lay on his back, the hot roof of the Galaxy Garrison rapidly cooling in the deluge that poured from the heavens. Acxa was cowering under one of the solar panels, clearly terrified she may melt like the wicked witch of the west. _Heh,_ that was funny. Keith looked around excitedly for anyone to verbally repeat it to but found no one. He’d made an Earth pop culture reference and none of the Paladins were around to hear it, not even Nadia! He let out a huff and sat back up, resting his weight on his outstretched arms and folding his legs beneath him.

The sky rumbled loudly and a flash of lightning cracked across the sky. The Texas desert was mostly flat and open all around them, save for the outcropping off in the distance. From the roof he could see far beyond the edges of the compound’s edges, the height offering a magnificent view of the raging storm. Right now it was uninterrupted, no glowing orange particle barrier to obstruct his view and block the rain, but that wouldn’t last much longer. The upgrades were nearly completed and the barrier would be back up in a matter of dobashes. Until then though, he would lay here and enjoy the marvel of being on an actual planet with actual weather patterns and actual _rain._ His first time experiencing it and the only company he had was a terrified Acxa.

Several more dobashes went by before a familiar and energetic voice sounded from the tarmac below. “ _KEEIITH!!! KEITH!!”_ Lance called. It was quiet and far away as the storm tried its damnedest to mute him but Keith’s sensitive ears picked up on his name, allowing him to focus and catch the tail end of the Blue Paladin’s call. “- in the rain!! Get down here, dude!” 

Without a tic’s hesitation, Keith leapt to his feet and made for the edge of the roof. “Where are you going?” Acxa called in a slight panic. “You can’t leave me here, Paladin.” 

“Keith! Come with me.”

“Into the … Wet?” She asked skeptically and he smirked, paying her only a moment’s glance before turning to peer over the edge of the building. 

Down on the below was the entirety of team Voltron, new additions included. Regris and Plak were marvelling at the rain pelting down around them, Coran and Allura seemed wary - though that may have more to do with how they’d described rain on Altea, and Krolia appeared as disinterested as ever.

Keith watched them for a moment longer before Lance noticed him standing there. “HEY! Get down here Mullet!” In typical Lance fashion the lanky Blue Paladin had both arms stretched wide, his soaking wet Cadet uniform clinging tightly to his thin body as he twirled around, head tilted back and mouth hanging open. He beamed up at Keith, clearly enjoying every drop of the deluge.

“Acxa, you coming?” Keith asked over his shoulder, switching back to his native Galran and turning to see her shaking her head. “Suit yourself.” He shrugged.

Keith took a deep breath, finding his centre and calming the energy buzzing through his body. He’d never tried to cross a distance this far before and just the thought of it made him jittery with excitement. That adrenaline, which had proven so useful the first few times, was now more of a hindrance. It prevented him from focusing properly, from achieving an almost zen like state, and from accessing the true extent of his abilities. So Keith breathed in - _hold_ \- and out, inhale - _hold_ \- exhale. One more time, inhale - _hold_ \- and exhale. _Patience Yield's Focus_ he heard his inner Shiro repeat and with his mind fully concentrated on a patch of tarmac directly behind the Cuban boy, Keith imagined himself standing there. He pictured it in his mind and, when that now familiar tingle spread across his body, Keith seized it and _pushed_.

The thunder boomed overhead and a bolt of lightning split the sky, masking the crackle of Keith’s druid magic as he apparated from the rooftop. His sudden presence made the tan skinned boy scream and jump back, losing his balance and stumbling into a nearby puddle as Keith laughed.

“Keith.” Krolia’s stern voice pulled him out of his laughter as he turned to face her, offering a single grunt and head nod of acknowledgement. “Where is your charge?”

“Melting into a puddle under a solar panel.” He replied, trying to make his voice sound as casual as possible. “If you listen closely you might hear her screeching.” Lance snorted beside him but Krolia was not amused though that didn’t matter to Keith, it wasn’t her reaction he was after any ways.

“Did you - did you just make a ‘Wizard of Oz’ reference?” Pidge asked from under the protection of some makeshift shelter, their laptop seated safely in their lap. Keith nodded and beamed with pride at having absolutely nailed it!

They stayed in the rain until Hunk and Matt finished whatever tinkering they’d been working on and the group was ordered back inside. Keith focused his energy on the rooftop once again, taking another deep breath and igniting as the tingles swept through him. He arrived in his previous position, startling Acxa just as the bright orange particle barrier flickered back into place and the rain was blocked out once again.

* * *

They’d spent another two vargas finishing their sparring session before finally calling it quits and heading back inside. If it weren’t for their obvious hunger Keith felt they both could have trained for several more.

Acxa had proven to be every bit his equal in combat. As a halfling he wasn’t nearly as strong as a full blooded Galra but he was fast and agile, two skills he used to his benefit. Unfortunately Acxa was equally fast, equally agile, equally sharp, and equally trained. She also had the advantage of being older than him and plenty of experience with other halflings to know to expect the unexpected during a sparring session. Afterall, Lotor’s Generals had ALL been halflings. He’d even heard that the pink one could turn invisible - like Mizor and Pozzi. 

Even with their similarities, there were still glaring differences between them that they’d inherited from their respective other parentages. Acxa had an innate ability to track his movements, seemingly able to tell his bluffs from when he would actually attack; it was eerie and annoying. She was also the better marksman between them, easily switching from her blaster to a Garrison issue pistol with little to no noticeable drop in accuracy. 

Keith, on the hand, had far more endurance. There were several times where Acxa would need to stop and take a breather, dropping to the ground and struggling to regain her breath under the hot Texas sun. Keith would take these moments to rehydrate as well, though he knew he could keep going. Ultimately, while they were equally skilled and evenly matched, as his dad used to say “when push came to shovels” Acxa would drop from exhaustion before him. As long as he could hold out, he could beat her. 

Keith had walked the former General back through the labyrinth of halls to her shared dorm with Plak, leaving a plate of shepherd's pie behind that the latter had been eyeing up enviously, and headed for his own room alone. The chaos of the quintant was winding down and in the morning they’d be heading out on their assignments. He should be excited, this is what he’d been waiting for; something to make him feel useful. But instead the sense of dread he’d been feeling doubled down, clenching at his heart and making his breath come faster than before. 

An uneasy sense of being watched started after the particle barrier returned and lingered with him into the late afternoon. He could feel it still now, nibbling away at the back of his consciousness and twisting his insides in an unpleasantly familiar way. This was different from the feeling of seeing Acxa again, and different from the feeling of nerves or anticipation. This was stronger than any anxiety he’d ever felt and if he had to find something close to it, some time where he’d felt a similar twisting of his guts it would have to be -

Keith stopped dead in his tracks. No. No it couldn’t be. They’d made sure to hunt down every last one of those foul creatures. Haggar was dead, her corrupted minions were dead. But it explained everything, wrapped it up in a neat little package with a sparkly bow on top. There was no other possible explanation. It wasn’t nerves at all, it wasn’t mounting anxiety; it was a warning.

Turning on a dime Keith sped off down the hall, someone else needed to know about this. He couldn’t risk their entire mission on the off chance that he was wrong. He wasn’t - he knew that. His gut was never wrong and Keith felt incredibly stupid for having dismissed it before. They would all be heading into certain death if they weren’t prepared.


	6. The Battle Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Paladins; You are to have already completed your preliminary checklist and be prepared for launch.”_ Krolia’s commanding voice bellowed over the Lion’s intercoms. She was standing regally in her Empire armour behind Shiro in the Black Lion’s cockpit, showered in purple light which made it appear as though her violet skin was glowing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warning for graphic violence.

He’d waited patiently; given the Humans far more time to prepare than he usually would out of sheer curiosity. What was so special about this species that not one, not two, but four out of the five mighty Lions of Voltron would choose them as Paladins? Seemingly nothing. And yet the Black Paladin was the former Champion of the arena, while the Green Paladin’s father had proven quite intelligent; the Empire even utilizing some of his more creative designs. 

Others might take him for a brute, but Sendak knew the importance of psychological warfare. He knew that taunting one’s opponent could cause them to slip, betray their goals, or even bring them to their knees entirely - all without having to lift a finger. These Humans may be intelligent, but they were driven by emotion and that made them weak. And weakness was not tolerated amongst the Galra; a lesson the Champion had learned the hard way. Now it was time he paid a little visit to his favourite prisoner. 

Sendak made his way towards the prison block in the lower levels of the ship. The Paladins had a pathetic habit of trying to release all of the prisoners before properly destroying a cruiser; unlike those pesky Blades, but he didn’t need to be concerned with them. With Thace on the Galran throne the Blade of Marmora had fully come out of the shadows. He’d heard rumours from other dissentients of the new Empire that the Blades had become a private force of sorts; a secret service of agents at Emperor Thace’s disposal that he could hide amongst the populace spy on them, or strike against them. It was for this reason that Sendak had purged his own ranks.

He’d hunted down the remaining druids alongside the Empire, and now had the last survivor on board his ship. He’d used the druid to search his underling’s minds. Those whose loyalty was questionable were executed by Sendak himself, while any discovered Blades were left to the mercy of his druid. As a deterrent he’d broadcast their screams over the ship’s PA system, their anguish eerily echoing down the metal corridors and bringing him great pleasure. 

Sendak came to a stop outside the main cell block. He passed orders to the four sentries standing guard, instructing them to shoot any prisoners that tried to escape, and placed his hand on the scanner to open the large barrier door. Once inside he slowly made his way down the hall towards his final goal, his pace steady and bootfalls heavy as he let the tension and suspense build during his approach. The prisoners would be able to hear him coming, would know that with him he brought only pain, and they would be afraid. He smiled callously, revelling in the reputation he had  _ earned _ . 

When he reached his desired cell, Sendak placed a hand on the scanner and stared down at the frail, crumpled form of the pitiful Human. How tiny and fragile they were; so easily crushed. It was almost a waste of his time; almost. 

“To your feet.” he commanded in Galran, refusing to reduce himself to the use of Common simply for the benefit of a lesser being. To his great pleasure the Human rose to standing, his weak limbs struggling to hold him upright. And Sendak laughed.

He instructed a nearby sentry to escort the prisoner as he led the way, silently marching back up the hall, out the main barrier door, and back towards the command centre. He could easily have called a sentry and had the Human brought to him, but Sendak enjoyed seeing the fear in the prisoner’s eyes when they saw him approach. 

They arrived at their destination and he activated the screens, showcasing their view of the planet below them. “You will watch as I destroy them.” he sneered, shoving the prisoner closer to the screens lining the room. “But first, I want to show you something.” With a snap of his fingers the sentry nearest him rushed into action, activating a video feed Sendak had saved in his armour.

Ancient halls lined with too-bright white walls and lit by blue lamps appeared before them, the halls were wide yet mostly empty as they suddenly played host to a small gathering of sentries. To the right was his former lieutenant, Haxus, and to his left was the massive crystal they were about to install. With the castle having lost power when their bomb deployed, the language of the Paladins was indeterminable yet Sendak knew his prisoner would understand it and watched for the moment of recognition in his eyes when the alien words rang out in the large room. 

The youngest Voltron Paladins fought pathetically, only the infuriating Red one having any  _ real _ skill or training. He watched the fight between himself and the half-breed and was filled with a renewed sense of rage. The wretched little mutt would pay for embarrassing him at the Kral-Zera, Sendak would see to it personally. As for the rest of the vermin, his fleet would destroy them and their primitive planet. Annihilating their earlier attacks had been all too easy, like crushing an ant with your boot; not even worth a second thought. 

He was pulled back from his musings by his prisoner’s sudden gasp and Sendak looked back at the screen in time to see the pint sized Green Paladin fly into the air, his old arm clamped tightly around their frame.  _ “You really thought your little hologram trick would work with me?”  _ He heard himself jeer and watched the horror in the Human’s expression as his daughter’s face froze on the screen. Of course this is where the battle started turning in the Paladin’s favour, so this is where Sendak stopped the playback. 

“I think we’ve seen enough to make my point, don’t you?” he mocked.

“WHA - WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY DAUGHTER?” The Human cried, fists weakly shaking at his sides and Sendak laughed, a deep bellow that echoed in the vast room.

“Care to find out?” He sneered again, pulling up footage of various Empire ships utilizing the prisoner’s own weapon designs. “I can show you if that’s what you really want.” he continued, the footage switching to the carnage left behind after a hard fought battle against a planet he’d conquered in the name of the Empire. 

He gave the gruesome images time to sink in before switching the view on the screens to show the primitive planet below them. “Or I can show you what I’ve already done.” he concluded as the screens lit up with the glittering array of twisted, shredded, and burned metal littering the sand. Wave after wave of Earth’s finest had been destroyed without so much as a single hit against his own fleet. Yet, amongst all the glittering metal, something luminous caught his eye. 

A bright orange particle barrier had been erected around the Human’s primary base. He stared down at it, the hexagonal arrangement and radiating brightness were distinctly Altean in design and would have required a Balmeran crystal to operate. Which could only mean one thing; Voltron was already here.

* * *

Keith tossed and turned on his bottom bunk; filled with an anxious energy and wishing the sun would hurry up and rise already. Everything had been painstakingly planned out, right down to the finest detail. Their crew had spent the entire last quintant running through scenario after scenario, trying to cover all of their bases on the off chance they’d missed something. Team Voltron had the advantage with the element of surprise but Sendak had to know the Humans were panning something. He’d proven time and again incredibly adept at predicting his opponent’s next move still, he had no idea that Voltron had already arrived nearly a whole movement ago. 

They knew about the druid lurking on Sendak’s cruiser, and knew Sam Holt would be held on that same ship, but it was all the other variables that had senior command nervous. Every step of the plan had to go off without a hitch in order for this to work. But there were so many moving parts, so many people involved, that it was damn near impossible to account for everything. 

Keith rolled over and let out a heavy breath, checking the alarm clock as he did so. If he fell asleep right this second he could get a solid 7 hours before needing to get up and prepare for the mission. All he had to do was close his eyes - slow his breathing - calm his mind - and drift off into that peaceful abyss.

Any time now …

… he could still get 6 good hours if he’d just fall asleep ...

… 5 hours wasn’t so bad. He could function on that if he fell asleep right now.

* * *

Keith sat in the cockpit of the Red Lion and though he was tired from managing less sleep than he should have, the excitement of impending battle coursed through him even still. He’d felt the sudden spikes in adrenaline as he thought about what was to come, the fluttering of his heart when Red’s particle barrier lowered before him, still tingling all the way down to the tips of his fingers. Keith was giddy with it, anticipation mounting, urging him to tighten his grip on Red’s controls. 

He could feel the moment the others connected with their lions. The flurry of foreign energies mingling together let him get a sense for just how nervous and exhausted the other Paladins were. This mission was exactly the sort of thing he used to run during his time as an active Blade, before being sent on assignment to Earth, then becoming a Paladin. He’d run infiltration missions like this a hundred times. Get in, extract information, sabotage, and get out; all without being seen. He had performed these data retrieval missions so many times that Keith pushed his own excitement and confidence through the bonds, trying to show his fellow Paladins that they had nothing to be anxious about. 

At least he hoped there was nothing to be anxious about. The presence of a Druid had certainly thrown a wrench in their plans and he’d be lying if said it didn’t worry him slightly. 

The sound of marching boots commanded his attention and Keith turned to see the Garrison soldier assigned to his lion climbing up the heavy metal ramp. “These things are amazing!” she said, her words coming out in a whispered puff as Red’s magnificence stole the air from her lungs. Keith preened at the praise to his lion and Red purred her approval of this Human woman - or young woman? She didn’t look very old, perhaps a few years older than Keith himself. But then again he was terrible at telling the Human’s apart; they all looked the same! 

The Garrison soldier marched right into the cockpit, moving around his chair to peer at the control panel. She drooled some more and made little  _ oooo _ and  _ awww _ sounds as she took in the very alien tech. “What’s this do?” She asked, pointing to a button that Keith had never had to use before. He had no idea what it did.

“Important Paladin things.” He snapped. “Get in the cargo hold already so we can be prepared for mission departure.” 

She levelled a glare at him, clearly at war with herself over whether or not to argue, but eventually deflated and let out a heavy huff of air as she silently marched into Red’s cargo hold. The door hissed shut behind her and Keith took a deep breath, feeling sorry for Plak who had to sit with her. 

_ “Paladins; You are to have already completed your preliminary checklist and be prepared for launch.”  _ Krolia’s commanding voice bellowed over the Lion’s intercoms. She was standing regally in her Empire armour behind Shiro in the Black Lion’s cockpit, showered in purple light which made it appear as though her violet skin was glowing. In the pilot’s seat sat Shiro, fully suited in his Black Paladin armour, sitting tall and proud as the head of Voltron. In the back of the cockpit was a smaller figure; a slight woman with short brown hair, tan skin, and glasses, who sat hunched over a laptop typing furiously. He couldn’t make out her face due to the angle, but he didn’t need to see her to know who she was. After sitting through countless preparatory meetings he knew who was assigned to which crew like the back of his hand. 

In the Black Lion was Shiro - Krolia - Veronica. Red had himself - Plak - Lucile. Green flew Pidge - Regris - Matt. Blue held Lance - Acxa - Mason. And Yellow took Hunk - Lahndik - Ethan. Waiting on the tarmac under the protection of the Garrison’s particle barriers were all of the MFE fighters; and not just the four at the Texas location, but all of the bases that had successfully completed the test flights. 

_ “- and I do not need to tell all of you how important this mission is. Do not miss your targets, do not delay your departures. The Lions leave to return at exactly the scheduled time; no later. If you are not in your Lion at departure, may you rest in pieces as you Humans say.” _

An audible gasp sounded simultaneously from all five lions and Keith beamed proudly at his mother. Sure he may have missed most of what she said due to being lost in his own head, but he was impressed by her ability to show compassion and even her use of a Human phrase.

_ “Um -”  _ Shiro cut in, looking incredibly alarmed; even Victoria had stopped typing to look at Krolia in shock. “- _ what Commander Krolia was  _ trying _ to say is: we are on a very tight schedule. Each and everyone of us has a crucial role to play. In this, we are fighting Sendak like Galra, not Humans, and that means everything you have been taught at the Garrison about wartime etiquette no longer applies. The Galra do not believe in ‘no man left behind’ so get back to your assigned lion as quickly as possible and we can all make it home safely. Good luck out there!” _

Krolia rolled her eyes, mumbling under breath in Galran about Humans being too sentimental and received an indignant snort from the girl in the corner, the Altean tech having translated her words. 

* * *

Keith flipped through his screens for several dobashes, waiting until the countdown began. He watched the MFEs finish being prepped for possible launch, watched the Garrison staff zipping around the Lions in the tunnels, watched the camouflaged soldiers hike across the sandy desert to set up land based weapons in the mountainous outcroppings, and watched the other Paladins in their cockpits. Lance and Mason did not get along, and Lance was wary of Acxa because of her former allegiance, so for the first time in a  _ long time _ the coms coming from Blue were pretty quiet. 

He smirked at the thought. Normally Lance would be chatting their ears off, or Pidge would be blathering on about some technical gibberish none of them actually understood, or Hunk would be whining about being hungry and/or nervous, or Coran would be babbling over the speakers about Altean nonsense, or the Princess would be trying to inspire hope, or any number of other distractions. Only Shiro and himself had the decency to keep their mouths shut on the shared com lines.

Keith flipped the screen again, a small flag appearing in the corner to denote which Garrison base he was currently viewing. There were three bars on the flag, the colours changing from black to red to gold and the four upgraded MFE fighters that sat on the tarmac (below the glowing orange particle barrier) all sported the same flag. The screens were much the same, another Garrison Base located in America flew the now familiar flag of his father’s country - and his, he supposed, considering he’d been born in the very desert they were now trying to defend. The MFE’s from the other American base were painted with the country’s flag, while the com screen had a different flag; solid blue with an ornate graphic in the centre. His dad had told him it was the coat of arms for the state of New York, but Keith had no idea what that meant.

Their own base flew two flags that were incredibly similar; one was the country flag, and one had only two bars and a single star. This was how the Garrison distinguished between their bases; by country and state flags. It made sense, he understood why they did it - but it was still very confusing for him. 

In total there were 16 MFE fighters that had passed the initial test flights. Yokohama and Bardufoss each had 2, while Berlin and New York had 4. As a Paladin, Keith was not permitted to attend the big meetings between the five Garrison bases and thus, did not fully know what they would be doing. He knew only what had trickled down to him through Nadia. The MFEs were to remain inactive, securely waiting within the protection of the particle barriers, while the Lion’s attempted their mission. If, and only if, the mission went awry the bases would launch as backup for the Paladins. Only two fighters were to be deployed from each base, with James and Nadia having been selected as the primary pilots for Texas. This would give them not one, but two waves of unexpected backup. 

Ground support had also been developed and was currently on its way to the outcropping for set up. They would be the first lines of defence for the Earth if Sendak decided to attack, and the rigging boasted some  _ heavy duty _ firepower thanks to Regris and Pidge reverse engineering some of the weapons stored in Shiro’s prosthetic limb. Without a steady supply of quintessence, the weapons would be weaker than desired, but they had a solution for that too. The Princess had sent a call back to New Altea, requesting that anyone with a gift for alchemy, who was willing to assist, come straight to Earth to man the new weapons. The only problem was - they couldn’t create a wormhole without alerting Sendak. 

And so, here they sat; waiting in their lions for the signal to launch. The Blade of Marmora members were in the process of their attack against Throk and his waiting fleet, sabotaging his communications and disabling the main systems. Voltron could not make a move until this was completed, all of their missions hinged on the success of the Blades and the silent removal of Sendak’s backup. 

The signal came through on the private communicator Pidge had dropped off. It ran on a wavelength so ancient, so archaic, that nothing the Galra had would even detect it, let alone decipher the coded message. The wavelength was called “Amplitude Modulation” but the Humans just called it AM radio for short and for once, their primitive tech would be helpful instead of a hindrance.

Keith read the coded message letting Krolia and the Garrison’s Upper Command know that everything had gone off without a hitch and Commander Throk’s fleet had been neutralized. He let out a heavy breath of relief and heard the orders from Admiral Sanda that they had initiated the countdown from within the base. Allura was now clear to call New Altea for reinforcements and the Paladins began to prepare for departure. Keith primed his cloaking, did a last minute check that both Plak and Lucile were strapped into the cargo hold, verified that the two devices were with them, and switched over his screens to watch the numbers count down. 

They had 5 dobashes before deployment and he could  _ feel _ the anxiety radiating off the other Paladins. Shiro had always told him that as second in command it was the Red Paladin’s job to assist in any way their leader needed. Well right now Shiro needed him! 

He didn’t think the others could sense each other as well as he could so Keith spoke up, trying to relieve their worry. “Hey, we’ve got this guys!” he cheered across the coms, watching his team’s faces brighten with added hope. “Worst case scenario we all die - and I guess that would mean the planet gets destroyed - since the Garrison can’t do shit to protect it without Voltron - but that wouldn’t matter to us cause we’d be dead. So you know, just don’t fuck up and we’ve got this!”

Nailed it. Keith really knew how to raise morale! 

“ _ Wow, okay - thank’s buddy.” _ Hunk said, sounding more nervous than before.

_ “Well said, Paladin.”  _ Lahndik spoke up from Yellow’s cargo hold.  _ “All we can give is our everything - life included. Anything beyond that is of no concern to the dead.” _ Keith nodded along in perfect understanding. 

_ “You Galra really know how to lift spirits don’t you.”  _ Lance jabbed and Keith caught the tail end of his eye roll as he spoke. 

_ “Final dobash! Paladins; prepare for departure. MFE fighters; standby. All parties on full alert.” _ Krolia commanded, setting their communications back on track and saving Keith from thinking of a scathing retort. 

He quickly double checked his controls, activated the now ready cloaking, and sat poised in his seat; hands gripped firmly to the controls as he watched the other Lions blink out of view, colour coded markers appearing on his screens in their stead. The final tic passed and Red promptly followed Black out of the tunnels; Green, Blue, and Yellow tight on her heels. 

They flew straight for the fleet, Shiro having directed them to each of their assigned cruisers, and landed gently on the underside of the massive ships. Keith exited his Lion, using the cloaking on his paladin armour to hide himself as he cut an entry point into the haul. Once breached, he directed Plak and Lucile to enter the ship as he returned to Red’s cockpit, prepared to reluctantly wait out the remainder of the mission. 

From the pilot’s seat he was able to monitor his team, watching the trackers added to Plak and Lucile’s suits as they migrated their way through the corridors. Because Empire ships had been mass produced, they were all virtually identical in layout. This made it easy for new recruits and transfers to find their way around, but it also made it much simpler for the Blades, rebels, and Voltron to map out the designs with relative accuracy. 

For example, Tragok’s fleet contained two cruisers: the primary ship (which Shiro’s crew was infiltrating) and the secondary ship (which Lance’s crew was infiltrating). Both vessels were N-71A Class, meaning their hallways were 2 measures wide, the primary engine room was at the very back on the third level behind two security doors and a patrol of sentries, and they totalled 8 levels with the prisoner cells on the lowest; below even the storage rooms and waste holding-tanks. Keith could run a ship like this blind folded. 

Sendak’s fleet on the other hand boasted 4 ships total with the smaller three being the same Class as Tragok’s fleet. His flagship, on the other hand, was an AL-95-J Class Imperial Cruiser containing 11 levels with hallways 2.5 measures wide. The prisoner cells were also on the lowest level but, unlike any other vessel variant, they contained high security cells isolated at the back of the ship in specialized pods. Each of these pods could be ejected at the press of a button, left to float through the vacuum of space with no engines, power, or steering capabilities. It was here that they suspected Mr. Holt was being held. 

After sharing this information with the Garrison Command, Admiral Sanda had suggested provoking Sendak into ejecting the pod, as it would be easier to retrieve with one of the Lions rather than infiltrate his cruiser. Krolia had, for the first time ever, acknowledged the validity of this plan but ultimately rejected it on the grounds that the Blade had tried a similar tactic to retrieve high ranking members who had been held by Sendak in the past. As it turned out, the former Commander was every bit as sadistic as one would expect. The provocation could work and he might eject the pod, but the moment it cleared the vicinity of his ship - Sendak would order it to be shot down. The result would be the immediate death of the prisoner and anyone attempting to collect them. Given the fact that his cruiser was armed not only with multiple exterior weapons but also an Ion cannon, it was a risk none of them were willing to take.

Keith watched his team’s dots on the screens. There was nothing he could do at this point except wait until either A) Plak and Lucile made it back in one piece, having successfully completed their assignment. B) Plak and Lucile make it back in one piece, but failed their assignment. C) A distress signal was tripped, alerting him that they had hit a snag  _ before _ planting the explosive. D) The timer ran out and he needed to depart without one or both of his crew. 

He really hoped it wouldn’t be the latter.

The dobashes ticked by as they neared the impending departure time. The two little dots had stopped moving now, remaining side-by-side near the rear of the ship, presumably in the primary engine room, or very close to it. Keith watched as absolutely nothing happened. He didn’t know whether to be worried, or relieved that the lines remained silent; both were equally disconcerting. 

_ “Black heading back to Garrison. Mission successful.” _ Shiro announced over the coms and almost immediately Pidge voiced the same message. There were only 6 dobashes before the scheduled exit time and Keith knew it would take longer than that to cross the entirety of the ship. Something was wrong - they should have plenty of time to get in, set the device, and get out. 

_ “Blue heading back to Garrison. Mission successful.”  _ Lance called. He watched as the blue marker flew by on his screen, glancing up to see nothing in the space around him. He really needed to hand it to Pidge, these cloaking devices were game changing. 

_ “Yellow heading back to Garrison. Mission successful.”  _ Hunk’s voice said as the yellow marker zoomed across his screen. Everyone had finished their missions. Everyone except him.

Keith checked the time; 1 dobash remaining. He checked the screens; neither dot had moved. He checked his communicator; no messages. He checked the status of the cruiser looming above him; all systems online.  _ Hurry up Plak!! _ He thought to himself.

A soft alarm sounded around him; their time had run out.

Keith sealed the exit hatch on Red as he dismounted from the underside of the ship. He activated his coms and, with a heavy breath, made the announcement they had  _ all _ been dreading when they left the Garrison. “Red heading back to Garrison. Mission failure - status unknown. Lion Occupants: 1.” He waited until Sanda acknowledged his message before shutting off his com entirely; not wanting anyone to hear him. 

“Watch him.” Keith whispered. “Please just - just watch him.” his near silent plea to the stars was all he could offer. He’d had to leave crew behind on missions before, but never someone who meant so much to him. Losing one of their own was going to be a hard pill for the Garrison to swallow, but if they didn’t get Plak back Keith would be choking on this decision for deca-phoebs to come. He could already feel the sickening knot in his stomach as it twisted.

* * *

Red was last to arrive back at the train tunnels, taking her spot beside the Black Lion as she opened up for Keith to make the walk of shame down her ramp. He had been the one to fail - the  _ only _ one to fail, and this failure could mean the entire endeavour was doomed. How could they take out Sendak if they lost the element of surprise? They couldn’t, and they all knew it. 

“- could be stuck somewhere waiting for the coast to clear.” He heard Shiro say as he approached the circle of Paladins, Blades, Officers, and a select few Commanders. “We can’t rule out the possibility.” The Black Paladin was standing next to a very disgruntled Iverson as they debated the severity of Keith's failure. 

Pidge cleared their throat and inserted themself into the conversation. “If they were dead their trackers would have shut off. Since they are still active we can safely assume that both are still alive. Although, it doesn’t say what  _ state _ they're in; just that they’re not dead. …. Yet.”

“Comforting, Pidge.” Lance sassed and the gremlin stuck out their tongue in response. 

“The Admiral will send further instruction.” Iverson boomed, his heavy voice echoing off the abandoned tunnel’s concrete walls.. “Until then, sit tight.” He turned on his heel and stocked off to the makeshift communications setup where three Garrison personnel were wearing large headsets and seated with even larger pieces of equipment spread out on the tables surrounding them. 

Keith slid up to the group in silence and took his place alongside his fellow Paladins. They spoke amongst themselves, debating possible reasons for the failure and suggesting possible solutions. Keith stayed out of it, he didn’t have anything constructive to add anyways. Unfortunately, this allowed his brain to drift off. And where it drifted was far from pleasant. He imagined the various situations the others could have found themselves in. 

Keith couldn’t say anything for the Garrison soldier, but Plak was tough and smart and resourceful and well trained. Next to Krolia he was the highest ranked Blade present and the  _ best _ at these types of missions. He wasn’t easily caught and he knew exactly what he was doing. And yet … No! Keith wouldn’t think about that because, as Pidge had said: they were 100% still alive. If he had to tear that ship apart to get his former mentor back, then so be it.

* * *

The orders from Sanda came through after just under a varga. Krolia and Shiro had walked over to join Iverson, followed shortly by Regris and Matt, as they entered into the discussion. The group going back and forth over the best course of action and finally landing on a solid plan they all agreed with. 

The other Lion’s were to stay put in the tunnels while Red took Acxa, Krolia, and Mason back to the cruiser. The three of them were to infiltrate the ship, plant and activate the devices in the engine block, locate the missing crew members, and get back to Red as quickly as possible. They had 30 dobashes.

Not a word was exchanged between the new crew as they strapped into Red’s cargo hold. Keith activated his cloaking and shot out of the tunnels at a breakneck pace. It didn’t take long before he was expertly aligning the exit hatch with the already cut panels of the cruiser’s lower haul. 

Krolia took charge immediately, commanding the others to stick closely to her side as she led them through the halls. This time they maintained an open com line to Red, allowing Keith to not only track them but to radio the Garrison at the first sign of trouble. 

After nearly 10 dobashes, Acxa called out that they had found Lucile in a storage room with Plak’s Blade suit crumpled up beside her. Keith’s heart started racing as his brain ran through every possibility. He could be in disguise as a crew member, he could have been captured and forced out of his suit, he could have left his suit behind for some undetermined reason. Whatever it was, they would find out soon enough; his gut was certain of it. 

Keith listened in on Krolia delegating and shook his head to clear the anxious thought; he needed to remain focused. Having a truly staggering amount of training and combat skills, Acxa was sent off on her own to retrieve Plak while Krolia took the Garrison Soldiers to ensure completion of the original mission. At the end of the day, as much as he  _ hated _ to admit it, retrieving Plak was not their priority. Oh he wanted his mentor back, desperately, but they  _ needed _ to complete the mission. Sabotaging Sendak’s fleet was imperative for the survival of Earth and the safe rescue of Mr. Holt. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Acxa, they wouldn’t have even been going back for Plak to begin with. It was her insistence that had finally broken Krolia. 

_ “Devices planted successfully. Activating now.” _ Speaking of Krolia, her voice commanded his attention as she announced their status. It was bittersweet news - but mostly bitter. The fact that they had to place the explosives meant Plak had never made it that far. The success of their mission was excellent as they would now be able to confidently move on to the next phase in the attack. But ultimately, it meant Acxa was out of time. _ “Countdown initiated. Returning to Red Lion.” _ Krolia announced as the engine room door opened in front of her but before she could disconnect their coms, the sounds of weapon fire rang out around her.  _ “Quiznak!”  _ She cursed.

In one breath she was commanding the Garrison Soldiers to cover her as she jumped into the fray, and in the other breath she was yelling at Acxa for backup. With her com still active Keith could hear the grunts and growls that came with heavy exertion as she fought against the soldiers and sentries blocking their escape. 

_ “So much for the element of surprise.” _ Mason grumbled over the lines, his upgraded weaponry firing with no reprieve. 

The sounds of laser fire were increasing steadily; more and more soldiers and sentries showing up to attack. Keith listened to the symphony of battle: the firing of weapons, the grunts and growls of combat, the screams of pain. He knew the Garrison was connected to their line, knew they could hear the same things as him, yet he still felt as though he were the lone witness. His heart raced in his chest as his mother’s fearsome growl rang clearly over the cacophony. Mason screamed curses non stop, various expletives exiting his lungs at a higher rate than his incredibly panicked breathing. Keith felt sorry for him, he remembered the fear that emanated off the other Paladins the first time they encountered the Empire and had to fight what to them were literal aliens.

A particularly loud scream vibrated through the coms, rattling around the cockpit, and setting his teeth on edge. He recognized the voice behind it but never, not once in his entire life, had he ever heard his mother make a sound like that. It wasn’t a scream of fear - oh no, not from Krolia; this was a scream of immense pain. 

_“OMG. Man down! Man down!”_ Mason panicked. _“BACKUP! Please, oh god, I need backup! Please, BACKUP!”_ Keith killed the com. He didn’t need to listen to this Human have his panic attack while simultaneously hearing the wheezing breaths coming from Krolia’s line. This mission was an even bigger failure than the last! This is why the Blade _never_ goes back for anyone. Not only were they down Plak, but now they were down Krolia, Acxa, and two Garrison Soldiers. NO! He couldn’t let this happen. There was still time.

There had to be.

Keith hastily sent an emergency distress signal to the other Lions and a status update to the Garrison. “I’m going in.” He announced, leaving no room for debate as he disconnected the com lines once again and headed for Red’s exit hatch. First things first was Plak, if he could get to Acxa and Plak then he would gain at  _ least _ one extra person to help fight the hoard of sentries facing off against Mason and Lucile; on his own he’d be walking into certain death. 

The Red Paladin activated the com link in his suit, connecting it to the new line Pidge had added to the Garrison and Blade suits. Crouching behind a crate in the storage room he had entered, Keith isolated Acxa’s line. “Coming to you.” He briefed, pulling up her signal on his wrist gauntlet and quickly mapping out a route to her location. He leaned over the crate, checked his surroundings, and promptly vaulted over the top to land on his feet and take off down the empty hall. 

He ran the halls as fast as he could and though the Paladin armour was definitely bulkier than his old Blade suit, it’s design didn’t slow him down in the least. A shot blasted around the corner in front of him and Keith skidded to a halt. He pressed himself against the cool metal walls, taking a few deep breaths to steady his rapidly beating heart, and risked a glance down the hall.

The moment his red and white helmet was visible, a soldier charged at him. Keith summoned his bayard, using his superior agility to jump over the head of the other and slice his way down. He planted his feet on their back, yanking his sword free and took off down the hall; any hope for a stealthy retrieval abandoned in his urgency. 

He ran the halls, surprised to meet little resistance, and soon found himself in the medical ward of the ship. Fear twisted in his gut, anxiety and worry for his friend increasing the pace of his already speeding heart. He crouched in the shadows provided by a set of tanks, and opened a line to the Green Paladin.

“Pidge. I need you to locate my position and set off an alarm somewhere far away from me.”

_ “Roger that Red.” _ They replied and Keith could hear the chaos of the Garrison in the background. Orders were being shouted, people were scrambling, alarms were blaring - and he had no way to know what was going on. It didn’t matter to him anyways, he needed to focus on his own mission and trust the others could protect the Garrison without him.  _ “Okay, plumbing emergency on 4th level, security doors to engine room sealed for protection, and prisoner doors unlocking in 3..2..1 - CHAOS! Good luck!” _

“Thanks, Pidge.” Keith killed the com and listened to the thunder of boots as they marched off towards the various disasters. They  _ had _ to know it was sabotage, but there was no way for them to predict just where he was trying to divert them _ from. _ Keith waited for the bootfalls to slow and eventually stop all together before, only a dobash later, he launched himself from his hiding place and tore down the now empty hall.

As he ran, the former Blade checked the markers of his four crew members; as long as they stayed lit, the person they represented was alive. Krolia and Mason’s markers still showed them in the engine room, alongside Lucile’s marker, and Acxa’s was dead ahead. He continued to make his way down the long hallway, peering into the shadows as he went for any signs of Plak. When a door at the end of the hall began to open, Keith came to a skidding halt once again. 

Around him was nothing, only empty walls and locked doors. The last of the crates, intersections, and canisters were too far behind to turn back and hide. So he summoned his bayard and prepared to stand his ground. The door opened slowly, as though being forced open manually and Keith watched a familiar blue hand wrap around the wall to gain leverage. Immediately he sheathed his bayard into his armour and dashed for the heavy door. He placed his hands on the metal frame and pushed with all his might, feeling the moment the barrier gave and flew open to reveal Acxa, covered in blood, panting in the opening.

“Thank the Ancients.” She muttered as she gasped for air and Keith reached out an arm to catch her when she began to slump, not really sure what else to do. “We - we need to get him out of here.” She continued, nodding her head over her shoulder in the direction of the corpse lying on the table. A corpse that Keith suddenly feared would be all too familiar if he dared get any closer. 

“Is that -” he let himself trail off and she nodded solemnly. 

“He’s still alive, but barely. We need to get him out of here before they come back.”

Keith immediately rushed into the room, leaving Acxa to stand in the doorway and prevent it from being blocked again. Now inside, he was able to fully perceive his surroundings. The lights in the room were off, aside from a set directly over the table and angled in such a way as to shine intensely down upon whoever was strapped there. In this case that poor soul was Plak.

He was lying prone on his back, arms down at his sides and head trapped in a literal vice. Around his wrists were metal cuffs, each connected to the table and radiating with energy. Keith knew by looking at them that they weren’t standard issue energy cuffs from the Empire, but something different; something worse. The flesh around the cuffs was charred and the room smelt vaguely of burning flesh and fresh blood..

Acxa appeared out of nowhere, having abandoned her post to assist. “We need to move. I’ll deactivate the restraints and you remove the head piece. Together, we’ll carry him out.”

Keith only nodded, offering her a typical Galran grunt of understanding as he moved to the head of the table. The vice was not only clamped tightly, but it was also locked in place. And he stared at it for nearly 30 tics before giving up and summoning his bayard. Years of practice with a blade was the only reason he even considered this solution and a lack of other options, coupled with dwindling time, gave him the confidence to take that first swing. Vaguely, Keith thought he heard a faint gasp come from beside him, but he paid his comrade no mind as he willed the Altean bayard to slice through the metal pressed tightly to his old friend’s head. 

Like butter the trap yielded to his blade and the pressure was released. Keith pried the remainder of the vice way with his bare hands, adrenaline adding to his natural strength, and Acxa carefully lifted their teammate from the table. She slung him over her shoulders and started for the door but not before Keith caught her muttering “reckless idiot” under her breath. It made him smile, Plak would have been proud of that move. 

They navigated the deserted halls with relative ease, making it back to the Red Lion in as little as 7 short dobashes. Carefully, Acxa placed the injured Plak in the cargo hold, gently tucking a strand of hair behind one of his ears, before rising to her feet and storming out of the Lion with a fury he’d never seen before. Keith had heard of her intensity in battle, but never had he seen this look. 

She looked wild, desperate, pained, crazed, and eerily composed all at the same time. Stars have mercy on those who got in her way. “We need to retrieve the others.” She commanded, marching past him. A returning soldier caught sight of them and Acxa lunged across the gap between them, practically running along the walls as she dropped them to the ground and kicked so hard their helmet went flying off their head, bouncing loudly down the metal corridor. She kicked down one last time for good measure and ripped the weapon from their grasp, arming it as she returned to her previous stride.

Keith gaped at her but followed closely.

They made it to the engine room with little to no resistance yet again and the Red Paladin was thanking his lucky stars that they’d made such good time. He checked his gauntlet, finding three markers still inside, and let out an exhale of relief.  _ This mission might be salvageable after all.  _ He thought to himself as the door to the engine room opened at Acxa’s touch; the calm inside was more than unsettling. 

A graveyard of soldiers and sentries lay before them, scorch marks littering the walls, and smoke still clinging to the air. Amidst the burn patterns were the telltale signs of bullets, though they had been modified with Altean technical advancements. In one corner sat an exhausted Garrison soldier, near the control panel sat the other, and off to the side, lying crumpled in a heap, was his mother.

Keith ignored the carnage around him in favour of running to the only person on this entire damn ship that needed him. He rushed to her side, being sure not to move her until he assessed the extent of her injuries. Keith reached out a hand to turn her shoulder, but his mother’s body promptly vanished. She flickered slightly then dissolved at his touch leaving Keith startled and confused.

“It’s a trap!” Acxa called from behind him and the Red Paladin jumped his feet, darting far away from the place his not-mother had just been and looking around the now empty room.

The bodies that had littered the floor mere moments before were gone, as were the two Garrison Soldiers who’d collapsed in exhaustion. Heavy doors closed, sealing the two halflings in the engine room Keith cursed loudly. 

“The coms are down.” Acxa supplied. “I can’t call for help. I can’t check for the other’s signals. I - what are we going to do?” 

Keith gaped at her in response. “Why are you asking me??” He panicked, not knowing what to do. His mother was injured, those reactions couldn’t have been faked, but he had no idea where the other three had ended up. Were they taken? Did they escape and the Soldiers decided to lay a trap for them instead? It just didn’t add up. He racked his brain but it just. Didn’t. Add. up!

“Because you’re the Paladin!” She cried, pulling him back to reality.  _ Because you’re the Paladin _ . His brain repeated.  _ Paladin _ . As if on cue, Keith felt the comforting familiarity of Red. He felt her in his mind and used their connection to reach out to the other Lions and through them to their Paladins. ‘ _ HELP’ _ he called. ‘ _ Trapped’. _

Keith waited for what felt like an eternity before he felt a calming presence of peace in the air. With it he saw a deep, dark purple bleeding into black at the edge of his vision as stars danced before his eyes and the thoughts ‘ _ We’re coming’ _ projected into his very soul. 


	7. Legendary Defenders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sudden burst of electric energy shot out at him, sizzling through the air as it crashed into his chest with a force that had him reeling. A roar sounded in his head and a rush of energy flooded his veins. It felt like fire, flames licking beneath his skin just begging to be released.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: I changed the title of the last chapter from "Sendak Part 1" to "The Battle Begins" because this final update is so much _more_ than just fighting Sendak and to call it a Part 2 didn't feel right. 
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: Graphic depictions of violence | Character Death | Degrading language (Sendak speaking to Keith)
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> **To My Readers,**  
>  I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you who have stuck around. Whether you joined at the beginning nearly a year and a half ago, or just found this story the other day! Thank you for your support - it means the world to me.
> 
> This series has been my pride and joy for a while now and seeing it come to an end is bittersweet. I'm so proud of this one and I hope you enjoy the ending as much as the rest of the story!  
> \- Kars

Keith paced in the engine room, his body unable to remain still. Behind him, Acxa sat cross-legged on the floor, fruitlessly toying with her comm in an attempt to make it connect with someone, anyone. 

They’d tried every possible solution they could think of and scanned every last inch of the vast room in hopes of finding another exit. So far, all they’d been able to find was a small vent near the top of the engine shaft and an emergency escape tunnel approximately halfway _down_ the shaft. Both required the use of a jetpack to reach and neither Keith nor Acxa’s suits were functioning properly. 

The Blade suits and the Paladin armour were vastly different from one another, having been designed for specific purposes and by entirely different species. Keith’s Paladin armour was Altean tech meant to protect the wearer and brightly announce their affiliation with Voltron. The Blade suits were Galran tech designed to shield and conceal, allowing them to remain as hidden as possible. Though they were wildly different, both suits utilized the quintessence of the wearer to power their many functions. This meant that even if there was some sort of electrical interference, both suits should still work. Which they did not. 

No damage had been sustained during this increasingly botched mission, and neither of their suits were showing as “off-line” - and yet, they couldn’t so much as connect their comms to each other while standing in the same room. 

Both had tested the various features of their respective suits for anything that might still be functioning and finished without a single successful attempt. Acxa couldn’t even extend her blade out of its dagger form and Keith couldn't summon his bayard from where it’d been stored inside his armour. 

This could only mean one thing: whatever was causing this, whatever was trapping them inside, it seemed to block the flow of quintessence, and altering the flow of quintessence was something only a Druid could do. Keith really wished the other Paladins would get here faster.

* * *

He sat cross legged on the cold metal floor of the engine room, hands resting in his lap and back straight as an arrow. Acxa had given up banging away on the doors with her blade, desperately attempting to manually pry them open to no avail, and was now silently pacing around the edge of the tunnel; searching for a way to scale the smooth walls.

Keith shifted his weight slightly; the pressure of the floor was making the little knobby bones in his ankle sore. The whole point of meditation was to relax and that was proving to be super difficult while his ankle was throbbing. Letting out a heavy breath, Keith opened his eyes and stretched his legs, switching into a new position and trying again. 

This time he rested with his legs bent beneath him, sitting back on his heels and placing his hands in his lap once again. He could feel his own heart racing, feel the energy radiating off the Balmeran crystals behind him, even feel the pulse of life from Acxa as she attempted whatever new plan she’d come up with. 

Keith tried to focus on the beat of his own heart, willing it to slow, willing it to fall into a pace that he’d consciously set. It took longer than he’d hoped but his body finally responded. He took in a deep and calculated breath, held it for a beat, then steadily exhaled, repeating this three more times.

With his heart rate under his own control, Keith moved on to other things. He reached out for the smallest of the engine’s Balmeran crystals and felt the clear and sudden shock of energy from it. 

The crystal was raw power. He’d felt a similar (albeit much smaller) boost before, back when he’d pocketed a shard from the Castle of Lion’s original crystal. But it hadn’t felt quite like this, at least not originally. For starters, it had been a tiny fragment fractured off from the main crystal, nothing more than debris. It had also been pure until he’d used it to protect Voltron from the cruel intentions of the witch Haggar.

That shard had caused him so much pain, so much anger and frustration, and nearly damaged his relationship with Allura to the point of no return. They’d been making progress since then, but things would never be quite the same between them. Keith didn’t ever want to feel that way again. 

He avoided the Balmeran crystals. 

The Red Paladin moved on to focus his energy on his own suit. He concentrated on his bayard, specifically on drawing the Paladin weapon from his armour and manifesting it in his grip. 

Keith could feel the frustration in his body building and his concentration began to slip. He could sense the weapon just at the edge of his reach but try as he might, he just couldn’t connect to it. 

_‘Patience yields focus,’_ his mind supplied. Shiro’s words echoed and Keith let out a heavy breath. He needed to let go of the tension, get his heartbeat back under control, and relax. After another breath, he shook out the jitters from his arms and closed his eyes, breathing deeply as the calm settled back into his mind. He could no longer hear Acxa prowling around, and he could no longer feel the hard metal floor. Instead, he was focused solely on the feel of the energy around him and within him. 

The crackle of quintessence fizzed in the air and Keith followed the natural ebb and flow of it, letting the energy pull him as his spirit drifted along with the current. The harder he concentrated, the more clearly he could see the rivers of energy flowing all around him. Streams of pure gold and glittering iridescence swirled in the air.

All around him was the sparkling neutral quintessence that formed from the universe itself. Rising out of the engine shaft was a golden stream of lifegiving quintessence emanating from Acxa. Churning tightly around the tainted Balmeran crystals was a mass of dark black quintessence. And there, around the edges of the room, was a blanket of energy that refused to mingle with the rest.

It hung like a curtain, rippling in a non-existent breeze as it clung to the edges of the room and sprawled up towards the ceiling, looming over them. This was what the Druid had created. This was what was keeping them trapped and blocking their suit from functioning. This was what needed to be purged.

Keith allowed himself to be pulled towards it, the sharpness of anxiety piercing his heart as he approached. _Patience yields focus,_ his inner Shiro once more supplied and Keith took a deep, calming breath before reaching out his hand to touch the curtain. 

It wrapped around his wrist instantly, tendrils of inky darkness crawling their way up his arm as it tried to tug him closer, but Keith reused to budge. He focused on the energy rippling around him, pulled on the glittering iridescence sparkling at the edges of his vision and _willed_ the curtain to bend. Slowly, tendrils of darkness receded from his arm, slinking back into whence they came and Keith pushed harder, forcing the dark quintessence to yield to his will, to do as he commanded it.

A rush of excitement flooded his system as the blackness began to change hue, morphing into a clear shimmer. The more progress he made, the more empowered he felt, until soon he was bursting with energy, easily transforming the darkness and effortlessly controlling the flow. A roar sounded in the back of his mind and Keith knew he was nearly finished. Sparks of red danced along with his own gold and the iridescent shimmer until not a trace of darkness was left in the curtain of quintessence. 

The sound of voices snapped Keith back into his body, back into wakefulness, as it shattered his concentration and left him reeling from the abrupt shock of it. 

“The comms are working!” Acxa announced from … somewhere. Keith scanned his surroundings but could not see her, though he swore he could make out a faint golden glow coming from the shaft in the middle of the room. 

Blinking, he gave his head a shake and moved to his feet once again as he stretched out his very stiff legs. Honestly, how long had he been sitting frozen in that position?

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on edge and a prickle went down his spine. It was a sensation similar to the warnings he’d always received from his gut, only this time it was amplified. He listened, ducking and spinning around in time to catch the manifestation of Sendak’s Druid.

The Druid appeared out of nowhere, the air sizzling around it. 

“You pesky little _MUTT!!_ ” it seethed, spitting the insult at him and sending a bolt of lightning to crack at Keith’s feet. He’d managed to jump back just in the nick of time, further infuriating the creature. “Half-breed urchin!” It snarled, charging up for another attack.

Keith lithely bounced to the side, drawing his bayard from where it’d been sheathed in his suit, and feeling the rush of quintessence in the air as it sparked along the edge of his blade. _Huh, this is new._ He thought to himself as he watched the red and gold static dance across his bayard. A bolt of dark lightning exploded to his right, mere inches from where he’d been standing, and Keith snapped his attention back to the fight. 

The doors sprang open and a handful of sentries flooded into the engine room. “ACXA! Back up!” Keith called and the newly minted Blade flew up from the engine shaft, weapon in hand. 

The Druid advanced on him and Keith returned his focus to his own battle knowing Acxa would handle the sentries; she was more than capable. Another jolt of lightning blasted past his head and Keith rolled away once again, jumping to his feet and pressing his attack. He charged forward with a snarl of his own as his sword sliced the empty space the Druid had just been occupying. 

“Pathetic!” it mocked, reappearing behind him. Keith whipped around, pulling up his bayard to block the strike and redirect the corrupted quintessence away. He leapt at the beast, growling louder in his frustration as it vanished from sight. 

_“Keith? Is that you? Is everything alright?”_ Though laced with worry, Shiro’s voice over the re-established comm link was a comfort and he clung to it.

“Found the Druid!” Keith replied, “Get us out of here!”

_“We’re doing the best we can! Sendak has us pinned and Tragok’s fighters are attacking the Garrison. It’s all hands on deck!”_

Keith didn’t answer, he couldn’t if he wanted to. The Druid’s latest attack exploded so close to his head that the force of it knocked his helmet clean off, leaving a painful ringing in his ears. The sound was disorienting and it took him far too long to regain his bearings, losing precious ground to the still advancing Druid as it teleported directly in front of him. Startled, Keith jolted backwards into the wall, trapping himself between cold metal and the unending assault.

“Prepare to meet your ancestors, _”_ The Druid mocked, its shrivelled hand reaching out towards him. Keith narrowed his eyes, feeling the moment the Druid summoned the power to attack and the shift in the air as the quintessence around them sizzled with electricity. He didn’t know what to do. They were standing too close together, he wouldn’t be able to slice with his bayard at this range and he didn’t have any other weapons on hand. _Stars_ he wished he had his blade, its dagger form would have been perfect right about now … 

It was like a lightbulb had suddenly gone off in his head. 

Back when he’d fought Zarkon one-on-one Keith had marvelled at the former Black Paladin’s ability to control the bayard and the various weapons he’d been able to create. Though it felt like eons ago, he could still remember vividly the variety Zarkon had at his disposal. It was this ability that made the bayard such a powerful weapon afterall. 

Keith focused his energy on his sword, imagining a dagger in his mind and nearly squealed with excitement when he felt it respond. Without sparing a glance at the newly formed weapon, Keith brought his fist down on the unsuspecting Druid, managing to lodge the small blade deep in its arm. 

The twisted creature let out an ear piercing screech as it recoiled in pain. “ _KWELK!”_ it cursed at him. “Wretched little half-breed! You’re going to pay for that!”

The Druid snarled ferociously as it lunged forward, paying no mind to its surroundings and charging headfirst towards Keith. He didn’t have time to jump out of the way or even move into a defensive stance as the full weight of the foul creature slammed into his body. Without his helmet there was nothing to protect his head and it collided harshly with the unforgiving metal walls.

Keith felt his stomach turn and his vision swim as he tried to hold onto consciousness. His ears were still ringing and the now all consuming throb in his head threatened to pull him out of the fight. But Keith wasn’t about to go down that easily, it would take more than a concussion to beat him; he is Galra and the Galra do _not_ give up. Victory or Death!

The Druid laughed at the haze that covered his vision momentarily and Keith took advantage of its hubris, gathering his strength and teleporting himself directly behind them. He spun around and slammed his fist, bayard and all, into the Druid’s back. It let out a blood-curdling shriek once again before dissolving beneath his blade. 

For a moment he felt relief that it was over, but the tingling at the back of his spine reminded him that these were living breathing creatures. If it was defeated, where was the body? He spun around in time to watch the foul being reappear, a darkness crackling in the air around it.

“Quiznaking _mongrel._ ” It spat. “Pathetic, primitive, little _half-breed scum!!_ ” The Druid continued to build its power, pure hatred radiating off it with every laboured breath. “You think you can use the skills of my order? You know NOTHING of the true power of quintessence. Let me show you what a _real_ Druid is capable of. Pay close attention _mutt,_ it will be the last lesson you ever learn!”

The sudden burst of electric energy shot out at him, sizzling through the air as it crashed into his chest with a force that had him reeling. A roar sounded in his head and a rush of energy flooded his veins. It felt like fire, flames licking beneath his skin just begging to be released.

“You call yourself a Druid? You’re an abomination!” Keith shouted back unleashing the inferno within. Red flames shot out around him and he darted quickly to the side as they licked up the long robes worn by his opponent. Keith kicked off from the wall, jumping up to spin around as his bayard morphed back into a sword and sliced its way through the flames. A heavy thud hit the metal floor and the static in the air dissolved, leaving behind nothing the heat of the fire still burning. 

Keith took a deep breath, sinking to his knee in exhaustion as he allowed himself a moment, however brief, to collect his thoughts. After a few calming breaths he realized the throbbing in his head had mostly subsided, having been replaced by a comforting purr. “Thanks, Red” Keith said in his native Galran and allowed his gratitude to filter through their connection. He still didn’t know exactly _how_ sentient the lions were but he knew she would definitely feel it. 

After a beat, he pushed himself to stand and surveyed the room which had gone eerily quiet. Acxa was nowhere to be seen, though the engine room was filled with hacked up sentries. Off to the side, near the edge of the central shaft, lay his long-discarded helmet. Keith slowly made his way to it, feeling the weight in his limbs as his feet dragged. He’d given that fight his all and was far more exhausted than he’d originally thought. 

The once shining white and red helmet now had a massive black scorch mark across the side. Keith smirked as he placed it back on his head, immediately being assaulted with a barrage of voices. 

_“Pidge, on your six!”_ _  
__“WOAH! Look out, Hunk!”_ _  
__“Alright, guys, let’s focus on that ion cannon. Lance, Pidge; with me. Hunk, see if you can cause enough damage to take it offline. Leave the fighters to the MFE squads. Let’s GO!”_

With one last look to the smouldering pile behind him, Keith switched his comms to the Marmora line as he ran out the door. “Acxa?” he called out, rounding a corner with his weapon drawn at his side. He followed the trail of severed robot parts scattered along the halls and leapt over the occasional fallen soldier, little chaotic breadcrumbs that allowed him to track his fellow Blade.

“Here.” She answered quickly, “Head for your lion. Meet you there.” Without another word, Keith changed direction and made his way for the storage room where he’d cut the small hole into the haul of the ship vargas ago. _Stars,_ how many vargas had it actually been?

With leaded steps, he finally made it to the large room and pulled down the shield on his helmet before throwing himself out the small hole. The hatch on Red’s back was closed to the vacuum of space around him but quickly opened up at his approach. Once inside, Keith let out a shaky breath of relief he’d been holding for far too long. The comforting presence of his lion surrounding and reenergizing him. 

Keith made his way into the cargo hold and found one of the two Garrison Officers lying supine on the floor with Plak sitting up against the wall. The older Galra looked rather worse for wear but, to Keith’s great relief, very much alive. 

“Hey, Kit.” Plak groaned, his voice gravelly and low. He tried to smirk but was clearly in a lot of pain causing what should have been a playful expression to morph into one of discomfort. Keith shook his head at his friend and former mentor. “I’ve been worse.” The Blade dismissed with a painful cough, but when he met Keith’s eyes something shifted in his gaze. Gone was the cocky young man, replaced instead with a melancholy soldier. “Thank you, Keith. For breaking the rules for me.”

His voice was barely above a whisper and Keith wanted nothing more than to pull his old friend into an embrace, to hold him tight and refuse to let go. But this was not the time, and this was not the place. Instead, Keith gave a curt nod in response. “You look like shit.” He said back, earning a light chuckle.

“You don’t so hot yourself, smartass.” Plak teased and Keith found himself smiling. 

He looked around the small space only to be reminded of the Human lying near Plak’s feet. “She’ll be okay.” The Blade offered when he noticed him staring. Keith looked up to meet his gaze once again, noting how dim the yellow of his eyes had become. Actually, now that he looked more closely, there was a faint golden glow around both of their bodies though the one surrounding the Garrison Officer was substantially duller. _Strange._ He thought. It was similar to the glow he’d seen around Acxa in the engine room.

“KEITH!” Keith whipped around, pulled from the brink of an epiphany to face a voice he immediately recognized. He gaped at his mother and she wasted no time in pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. 

“MOM,” He wheezed. “Let go!” 

To his great surprise, she did. Krolia stepped out of the embrace just enough that they were no longer pressed against one another, though her hands remained firmly placed on his shoulders. She stared down at him for a moment, a mix of complicated emotions swirling in her eyes. 

“I am so happy you’re safe.” She said softly, speaking in English to give the illusion of a private conversation. She offered a small, but affectionate, smile as she pulled away with slight hesitancy, breaking the moment as she moved to check on Plak. 

Keith heard the man grumble about being fine, Krolia scold him for being stubborn, and the Garrison Officer groan from their place on the ground. It all reminded him of the calm that would follow after a mission with the Blade. The chaos of battle and the anxiety of slinking through corridors to remain undetected, followed by the relative calm that settled over their pods as they flew back to base. 

Inside the Lion, he was removed from the battle still raging around them, just beyond the protection of the ship’s particle barrier. For the first time in vargas Keith didn’t feel the imminent threat posed by Tragok and Sendak, he didn’t feel like he was in the middle of protecting his home planet from a Psychopath and his followers, he didn’t feel like everything he cared about was on the verge of being destroyed. Instead, he felt the calm of peace that came with seeing one of his oldest friends alive, his mother safe, and the presence of the Paladin’s voices ringing over his comms. 

The Blade of Marmora had taken out Throk’s fleet, removing Sendak’s emergency backup, while the team missions had successfully taken out the main fleet’s systems, leaving only Sendak’s flagship with an active engine core. The Paladins had assistance in the form of the MFE fighters from all five Garrison bases, as well as the ground-based ion cannons hidden in the mountains at the Texas base. And Keith had managed to defeat Sendak’s Druid. 

He was exhausted. Battling that Druid had taken every last ounce of energy he had in his system and the only reason he was even standing was the insane amount of adrenaline coursing through his veins. His head was still pounding, and his ears were still ringing, and his whole body was still aching from battle, but Keith had won. Victory or Death and he’d drawn victory. He wasn’t foolish (or arrogant) enough to believe he was _better_ or more skilled than that Druid, merely luckier. His opponent’s sense of reality had been warped by the witch and it had left them arrogant, unable to view Keith as a legitimate threat. Which had been their fatal mistake. 

_“WHAT IS THAT???”_ Lance’s voice panicked over the comms, painfully exasperating Keith’s already existing headache and pulling him once again back to the present. _“Shiro? Shiro, what do we do?”_ he continued and the raw fear in his voice clenched at Keith’s heart.

Lance was terrified. Lance, the cocksure, easy-go-lucky, overly confident Paladin of the Blue Lion was absolutely _terrified_. Whatever this was, it wasn’t going to be good. 

Keith turned away from Red’s cargo hold, moving towards the door that led into the cockpit. The other Paladin’s needed him, they needed the Red Lion to form Voltron and they needed backup. He gave a cursory glance to the scene behind him before heading into the head of his Lion. “Acxa?” he called over the comms, thankfully receiving an immediate reply.

 _“On my way,”_ she said, sounding out of breath. He could hear clanging in the background accompanied by the distinct sound of blasters. 

“Need backup?” He asked, knowing he probably wasn’t in the best condition to assist.

A loud thumping sound could be heard, followed by a pained groan from his teammate. _“Mmph!”_ She grunted and took several deep breaths before groaning loudly.

Keith listened carefully to her heavy breathing, trying to determine if she was struggling due to an injury, exhaustion, or just because of adrenaline. He could hear voices in the background. Some were robotic, instructing her to put down her weapon and surrender to the might of the ‘Fire Of Purification’. Other’s were soldiers instructing her to stand down or shouting orders at each other. 

“Where are you?” He asked, voice steady and firm as he resolutely added “I’m extracting you.”

 _“In the storage room by the exit hole.”_ She whispered between heavy breaths and Keith offered her a grunt of understanding.

He instructed Red to seal the hatch on her back and announced over the internal speakers for the others to secure themselves as they launched. He checked his controls and buckled himself into the pilot’s seat, screen and panel lighting up before him. His seat slid into place and Red roared thunderously. 

Keith activated one of the tracking settings on Red’s console, allowing him to see the outline of Acxa’s suit so he could position his Lion in such a way as to prevent harm … to her at least. “Seal your suit.” He commanded and thrust off from where he’d secured the Lion to the ship. He looped around the vessel, coming back to the place he’d just been and waited for Acxa’s confirmation before using Red’s powerful jaws to tear the haul of the ship clean off. A flurry of sentries and soldiers were sucked out of the ship, flying untethered into the highest parts of Earth’s atmosphere, but Acxa sat securely inside the closed mouth of the Red Lion. 

“Where’s Mason?” He asked, fearing the answer his gut told him was coming.

 _“Fallen,”_ Krolia replied from the cargo hold. Keith didn’t need more details, he didn’t need to know what happened or how, he just needed to know they weren’t waiting on anyone else. Everyone stayed silent as Keith pulled back from the giant gash Red had torn in the side of the ship. 

* * *

A blast from Sendak’s ion cannon ripped past the Blue Lion and exploded on the mountain range below. Inside the cockpit, an alarm started going off, lights flashing on his control panel and an obnoxious beeping sound echoed in the confined space to alert him that one of the ground based weapons had been destroyed. Keith took his eyes off the battle to silence the notification from his panel. From the corner of his eye he could see an orange, white, and grey craft zip across the screen as it chased down one of the many fighter-pods. 

The Galran pilot dipped and spun and twirled around debris, effortlessly weaving around obstacles as their immense amount of training and natural instincts guided them. And yet, Keith noted how fluid the MFE jet was, how gracefully it followed. Clearly, the pilot wasn’t as skilled and didn’t have the same level of training, but their craft was definitely capable of keeping pace. Perhaps, under the guidance of the new Empire, Earth could one day be a legitimate ally. 

Red roared as a series of shots made contact and Keith returned his attention to the battle around him, focusing on the source of the impact. He let himself slip into the single-minded focus of a Galran soldier; a state of mind that was second nature to him. He thrust the controls forward, launching his lion at the still advancing fighter-pod, and blasting them out of the sky with a single energy beam from Red’s mouth cannon. Turning on a dime Keith plunged forward, rocketing towards the Yellow Lion and plucking off the pods that swarmed around Hunk, slowly picking away at this armour. 

Though Yellow had more armour plating than any of the lions, he was also the slowest. Hunk couldn’t spin his lion like Keith could, he couldn’t rid himself of the pesky little pods that fired at him like mosquitoes. So Keith swooped in to help.

He dashed from pod to pod as he blasted them to bits, nothing but scrap metal falling to the surface as it was captured by the planet’s gravity. 

_“Thanks dude!”_ Hunk’s voice sounded relieved and Keith could practically feel the anxiety radiating off him. But there was no time for encouraging words, in the time it took for him to clear out the 6 pods swarming Hunk, an overwhelmed Pidge was now calling for backup.

Keith jumped in to assist, clearing away the pods and moving on to target two more that were tailing one of the MFEs. Gratitude in an Earth language he didn’t understand was translated by his lion but Keith didn’t bother responding, instead, he moved on to help Black as Shiro disappeared behind one of the cruisers. 

As he rounded the side of the haul Keith could see both Blue and Black locked in a tight battle against Sendak’s flagship. The two Lions were tag-teaming the ion cannon, one attacking the weapon while the other watched their back, then switching to keep Sendak’s soldiers on their toes. Keith swooped in and chomped Red’s jaws down on a fighter-pod that made it past Shiro and was now sneaking up on Lance. He flung the debris aside and used her mouth cannon to blast a line of advancing pods.

“SHIRO,” he called “- help Lance. I’ve got this covered!”

_“You sure?”_

“Ya, I got it! GO!” Keith growled, the adrenaline of the battle surging through his veins and pushing him to excel. He flipped and dipped, swirled and twirled, as he dogged shots and blocked attacks. This is where he was needed, if he could just hold off Sendak’s troops long enough for his fellow Paladins to destroy that weapon then this battle would be all but over. 

The ion cannon held on for longer than expected before inevitably giving way to the barrage of firepower the two Lions were steadily blasting. A brilliant explosion took out the frontend of the ship sending a rippling effect throughout the entire framework before the whole ship exploded in a dramatic display of fireworks. It was breathtaking. It was devastating. It was an assured victory.

Keith beamed from his pilot’s seat and watched the falling debris light-up as it descended into Earth’s atmosphere. With Sendak’s flagship out of the way, the others would be a piece of cake; especially since they didn’t have active engine cores. Lance gave a cheer over their comms and broke away from Shiro to assist Hunk and Pidge. But Shiro didn’t move, his lion merely floated there, lifelessly hanging in the thin upper layer of atmosphere. 

“Shiro?” He called over the comms. “What’s wrong?”

 _“Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.”_ He replied, sounding out of breath. 

“You’re lion isn't moving.”

 _“Not in my lion -_ **_ahhh_ ** _\- explosion hit Black hard! Sendak, he -_ **_ahhhhhhh, ergggh_ ** _\- he latched his claw into the haul and started draining Black’s quintessence. I had to stop him!”_ he grunted as he spoke, sounding as though he were in close combat with another. It wasn’t until a fierce growl was picked up by Shiro’s helmet that Keith realized what had happened.

He flew around the debris, scanning the orbiting chunks of large metal slabs, and finally found the two locked tightly in a heavily one-sided battle. Though Shiro had his bayard and his mechanical arm, Sendak had both his own weapon and his much more heavily modified arm from the Witch. Keith growled menacingly as he watched Sendak attack, forcing Shiro back closer and closer to the edge of their platform.

They were low enough in the atmosphere that Earth’s gravity held them both in place, securely standing on the slab instead of floating off into space. Yet the force of the explosion had been great enough to send chunks of debris into temporary orbits. Soon, that energy would dissipate and their little battleground would start to plummet towards the unforgiving surface of the planet below. Not that this fight would last that long, Sendak was clearly overpowering a greatly disadvantaged Shiro. 

Keith growled again and thrust the Red Lion towards the fight with all his might. He couldn’t risk blasting the platform on the chance that he may hit Shiro, so he settled for stabilizing it with Red’s body, at least this way they wouldn’t lose their trajectory and begin descending out of the atmosphere. 

“Hold steady, girl!” he commanded and released himself from the pilot’s seat, running to the rear of the Lion to exit through a hatch in her belly. 

“What’s going on?” Krolia asked as he darted past.

“Sendak,” was all he managed to reply, and caught an exhausted Acxa leap to her feet and follow him towards the hatch. “What are you doing?” He asked as Red opened up.

“Helping.” her answer left no room for argument as she immediately jumped out of the lion, activating her jetpack and flipping up towards the metal sheet above. Keith followed suit.

In the blink of an eye, the skirmish switched to a three on one brawl, as Acxa and Keith over swayed the balance of power. Sendak had grinned when he saw them, offering a condescending remark about “the two half-breeds _almost_ counting as one full Galra and therefore _almost_ posing a threat.” He’d sneered and laughed in their faces as he redoubled his efforts.

But both Keith and Acxa were highly trained and quickly proved to be more than his arrogant ass could handle. Sendak snarled as he realized he was losing, fighting dirty enough to try and launch Acxa into a passing ball of debris. It sizzled in the thin atmosphere, flames wrapping around as it rocketed towards the planet’s surface. 

Shiro had reached out, catching her by the ankle and pulling her back on to the relative safety of the platform. The failure of his dirty plan only further enraged Sendak and he shot out his bionic hand to grasp the two tightly, slowly tightening his grip and squeezing the very life from their bodies.

Keith fought back harder, trying to distract the beast and it worked, at first. His shifted focus caused him to loosen the grip on Shiro and Acxa, allowing them to gasp for breath and begin attempting to break free of his grasp. The moment Sendak noticed he immediately tightened again, painfully snapping Acxa’s leg in the process and tearing off Shiro’s own robotic arm. The twin screams ringing in his helmet made him wince. He heard Sendak laugh at their pain and Keith saw red. 

He pooled his energy in his core, swirling and building into a raging cyclone before unleashing in an explosive display, directing the flow of quintessence towards the former Commander. Sendak snarled angrily at him but the magnitude of Keith’s blow had forced him to release the injured Shiro and Acxa and bring his robotic arm up as a shield. 

Keith felt the energy draining from him, unlike Haggar’s twisted abominations he couldn’t - nay, refused - to draw new quintessence from his opponents to refuel his attacks. Instead, he continued drawing from his own energy, erupting bursts of pure quintessence channeled into powerful strikes of lightning. He blasted Sendak repeatedly, his attacks unrelenting, drawing from his core until he felt himself running on nothing more than fumes. Shiro, despite missing his arm, tended to Acxa, protecting her from the blasts as they deflected off Sendak’s armour. 

From the corner of his eye, Keith watched Shiro activate his Paladin Armour’s shield, holding it steady to cover both of them. Unfortunately, Sendak used this distraction to launch his whole arm at Keith’s head. The Red Paladin managed to dodge it, but only just. He gave his head a shake, refocusing his attention solely on his opponent and Sendak snarled at him.

“You _dare_ to call yourself GALRA?” he seethed. Lunging for another attack. “ _Filthy little half-breed!”_ His words were spat out through tightly clenched teeth as he pinned Keith to the platform between his metal claws. Keith couldn’t respond, the breath being squeezed from his lungs and choking the half-formed words in his throat. He didn’t think he had the energy left in his system, but he needed this to end before his eyes popped out of his head. 

Keith breathed as deeply as his compressed lungs would allow, appreciating just for a moment how important Shiro’s breathing techniques had proven to be. Without them, he didn’t know if he could have summoned the strength to calm his racing heart. _Patience yields focus._ He heard his inner Shiro say. Panicking would block his abilities, breathing was the key. He took another deep breath for good measure and -

In a flurry of lightning, Keith reappeared in the air behind Sendak, drawing his bayard as he fell and slicing it across his broad back. Sendak roared in rage and pain, whipping around to face Keith once again. In a split second reaction, the former Commander raised a fist and threw it forward, connecting with a loud crack against the side of Keith’s head as the red bayard pierced through his gut. 

Through rapidly blurring vision Keith watched Sendak fall. For a moment he felt relief before the pain exploded in his head.

* * *

Keith woke slowly, the sound of steady beeping pulling him from the depths of what could not be called sleep. The all too familiar smell of a sterilized medical facility surrounded him, assaulting his senses with heavy cleaners and the blandness of unscented fabrics. Speaking of fabrics, the sheets on his bed were mildly itchy and he could feel the all-too-familiar rash that would result soon enough if it hadn’t already. He’d slowly grown accustomed to all the chemicals during his time as a Cadet at the Garrison, but being away for so long had erased his slowly acquired tolerance to Earth products. Fortunately, the mattress wasn’t too bad, certainly more comfortable than the rock hard slabs the Castle of Lions had tried to pass off as beds. 

Keith tried opening his eyes and taking stock of his surroundings only to find that they were bound shut. A mild surge of panic rushed through his veins causing the beeping to increase in pace as his heart picked up speed. He forced himself to take several deep breaths, trying to calm down, reminding himself that the battle was over and he was safe. 

As the machinery evened out, Keith put the pieces together and tried to form a concrete idea of his current setting. He was definitely in a hospital bed, he was definitely hooked up to equipment, there was definitely a needle in his hand, and he definitely felt like shit. His entire body was sore and the deep breaths he’d used to calm himself had been relatively difficult to take; his chest feeling rather constricted. 

As far as Keith could tell he was alone in the room. He couldn’t hear anyone else and he couldn’t smell anyone, but he could definitely hear voices speaking English on the other side of the door. He tried to listen in, perhaps catch a clip of what they were saying, but the walls and their hushed tones muffled the words enough that he could not decipher anything. With a groan, he let out a heavy sigh (which kinda hurt) and moved his hands up to feel at his face.

There was a bandage there, wrapped around the top of his head and pulled down over his eyes. His first assessment had been correct and a sharp pinch was felt on the back of his hand as the movement pulled on a tube connected to the needle. Try as he might, Keith couldn’t remember how he’d come to be here. It reminded him of when he was a kit living on the main base and spending the majority of his free time in the medbay being tended to by Sergin. 

_Mmmm Sergin!_ Keith wondered briefly what the handsome Blade was up to these days. Was he still on the main base? It had been _deca-phoebs_ since he’d last seen him, a lot can change in that time; Keith sure had. Maybe he would make a pit stop there for a visit after all of this was dealt with. 

The door to his room opened and Keith was hit with the soft smell of sandalwood as who he knew immediately to be Nurse Rob poked his head in the frame. “Oh, hey, you’re awake!” The main said brightly, opening the door fully to step inside. He crossed the room quickly and Keith heard the ruffling of papers being flipped on a clipboard. “Hmm, how do you feel? Any pain?” Nurse Rob asked as he sat beside him on the bed.

“Uh, yeah, chest. Feels tight.” Keith eloquently responded. “Hard to breathe.” 

Nurse Rob hummed as he seemingly studied the clipboard some more, flipping up another page. “Your body metabolizes painkillers much faster than anticipated. The amount of meds I’d have to give you would probably just kill your kidneys so it looks like there are a few rough nights coming your way. Sorry.” He said the apology with the least convincing sympathetic tone of all time. Keith groaned.

He heard the faint chuckle as the blond man pushed himself to stand, and listened to his footsteps as they circled around the side of the hospital bed to hum once again, this time on Keith’s left side, near the beeping monitor. “Hmm,” he puzzled.

“What?”

“Nothing, to worry about. I’m sure.” Nurse Rob answered quickly, trying to reassure him.

“Hmph, convincing.” Keith sassed back and earned a sudden and genuine burst of laughter. 

“You haven’t changed, you know that? Still so scrappy!” Nurse Rob chuckled to himself as he scribbled on a small pad of paper and Keith listened to the scratch of his pencil. “Alright, I’ll have one of the nurses come by shortly to give you this. It’ll help you sleep but not much else.”

“Wait - aren’t you a nurse?” Keith asked, thoroughly confused. It was right there in his name: _NURSE_ Rob!

“No, I’m a doctor.” He answered, a soft smile hanging in his voice.

“But you were a nurse before … right?” Keith continued, unable to piece together a complete picture that made sense and didn’t leave him more confused than before.

“No, but I can see how you’d think that. I’m the onsite physician for the Cadets and am often seen as the ‘school nurse’ in a way, especially since we don’t have any actual nursing staff in that part of the facility. Leaving me to do most of what would be their duties.” He walked back to Keith’s right side as he spoke, and returned to his previous position on the edge of the bed. “Plus ‘Nurse Rob’ has a ring to it, don’t you think?” 

“I guess,” Keith mumbled back and earned a snort from Not-A-Nurse Rob.

“I’m going to remove the bandaging, okay? Keep your eyes closed cause it may be a little too bright for you.” 

Keith mumbled an ‘okay’ in return and felt the pressure of hands on the back of his head as they removed the clips holding the bandaging in place. Slowly the fabric was unwound and he could see the light of the room shining through his tightly closed eyelids. Keith willed his eyes into their more Human form, preemptively reducing his natural sensitivity to light, before carefully opening them.

He squinted heavily against the industrial fluorescent bulbs and groaned as the light made his eyes throb slightly, the beginnings of a headache taking root. Nurse Rob smiled at him, warm and bright, his beautiful green eyes crinkling at the corners. 

“Alright, let's test that responsiveness shall we.” He said, his smile not fading in the least as he pulled out a small flashlight and shined it directly in Keith’s eyes. First the right, then the left, then both as he dragged it across his field of view with the instruction of his eyes to follow the light. 

The young doctor ran a few small tests, checking Keith’s reflexes and his pain response, as well as asking a series of questions. Most of the questions were along the lines of “Can you tell me how you ended up in the hospital?” or “What is the last thing you remember doing?’

Keith tried his best to answer each question but gaps in his memory made it difficult. He knew that was a bad sign, something about potential brain injury or whatever. But given how exhausted he’d been after battling the Druid, then flying Red to assist the other Paladins, then forming Voltron and taking down Sendak - he figured it was only to be expected that he’d have some lingering memory issues. Perhaps, in time, he’d be able to recall the final events of the battle but for now, the last thing he could remember was rushing to save Shiro, slicing Sendak with his sword, and then …. nothing. Not pain, not blackness, not even the sense of a void - just, nothing.

One minute he was rushing to protect his friend and leader, and the next he was waking up in the Garrison medical ward. The nothingness in-between made him uncomfortable but, only time stood a chance of correcting that. Until then, there was nothing he could do.

Nothing.

* * *

The next time Keith opened his eyes, it was to the sight of his mother sitting in a small chair under the window. Krolia looked up from her datapad as Keith turned to the left to meet her gaze, and she smiled warmly back at him, nudging her head to the side. He turned his own head, following where she’d directed, and found his father passed out on the floor of the room. 

The man was seated on the floor, legs spread wide, and back leaning against the foot of Keith’s hospital bed. His head was tilted slightly to the left and his mouth was hanging open, a small wet patch slowly forming on the shoulder of his T-shirt. Bunched up behind Krolia was the signature brown jacket his father always seemed to wear despite living in a desert. The casualness of it all made Keith smile. He let himself linger on the scene before him, both of his parents - one Galra and one Human, relaxing in the peaceful room. 

They hadn’t been able to enjoy a quiet moment as a family since, well, since before Keith and Krolia had left nearly 20 deca-phoebs ago. It hurt to think about how long it had been, how long his poor father had been left alone. As Keith looked between them he realized he didn’t actually know what their future would hold, but in this moment he didn’t want to think about it just yet. Instead, he wanted to enjoy the peaceful calm of the room and the comfort of having _both_ of his parents present.

A loud snore came from the foot of his bed and Krolia snorted in amusement as her mate adjusted his position and smacked his lips; still fast asleep. Keith lay his head back down on the pillow, a content smile creeping across his face.

It didn’t matter what was to come, right now they were together with no imminent danger lurking around the corner. Right now he could relax and just enjoy the moment.

So Keith let his eyes close as he drifted off to the affectionate look on his mother’s face and the sound of soft snores rising from the floor. 

* * *

He stood on the tarmac staring up at his lion. Red sat majestically with her head held high and her chest puffed out in pride. She was mechanical so there was only so much puffing she could do, but the energy that came off her spoke for itself. 

Keith smiled up at her, warm and fond, as he rested his hand against her leg.

“Hey, girl.” He said, leaning his head next to his hand. After a moment of silence, Keith hoisted himself onto the massive paw and climbed up to sit atop her head. He rested his back against Red’s right ear and bent his left leg up, his arm coming to rest on his knee, while his right leg hung over the edge. 

Keith pulled his blade from behind his back and relaxed as he toyed with the weapon, absentmindedly flipping it around in his grip. He stared down at the Garrison grounds, watching as the staff members scurried about; rushing to prepare the area for the grand departure. And it was going to be _grand_ alright, at least that’s what the higher-ups were planning. They wanted to send their new alien allies off with a bang and had planned a massive party with reporters giving live coverage of the event to be broadcast across the planet. 

Amongst the who’s who of invitees were the various celebrity guests and musicians (one of which was set to perform that evening), as well as World Leaders, and a select few tech and business moguls. Though several important Heads of State were coming, it was the four countries directly involved in the battle against Sendak who were slated to be honoured alongside the Paladins, Blades, and Alteans. This meant special acknowledgements were being made, as well as the unveiling of a memorial wall that would fly the flags of Germany, Japan, Norway, and the United States of America.

On the wall would be individual plaques for each of the lives lost to Sendak. A symbol carved into them denoting if they’d died in the waves of defence, or in the final battle. Pilots, medical personnel, machine gun operators, foot soldiers, and more. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of names engraved on shining plaques; their sacrifices never to be forgotten. In a way, it reminded Keith of their own Resting Walls back on the many Blade bases and throughout the Empire.

Tonight would be a celebration, but tomorrow was their farewell. Allura and Coran were being picked up by an Altean pod, while Matt and Romelle were staying on Earth for a few more months before they too left for Altea. 

Matt wanted some time with his family. He wanted to be with his mom and dad whom he hadn’t seen since being taken off Kerberos by the Empire deca-phoebs ago. He also wanted them all to have time to get to know Romelle. Soon enough they’d be leaving, Matt to become Earth’s liaison to the Altean People, and Romelle to return to her own civilization. Keith didn’t blame him for wanting quality time beforehand.

Shiro was staying on Earth so he and Adam could work on their relationship. After the initial excitement of reuniting, and the urgency of defending Earth from Sendak, their distractions had faded away leaving them to face the fact that their relationship had been fraying long before Shiro had ever disappeared. 

Retirement wasn’t something Keith truly understood. The Galra didn’t retire per say, they merely took on leadership or education roles instead of combat roles as they aged, or they died on the battlefield with a warrior’s honour. Even if it was a temporary retirement (more a “leave of absence” as Lance called it), Keith didn’t _really_ understand Shiro’s reasoning. He guessed he never would. Humans were not a warrior species like the Galra, Shiro didn’t have war bred into him, the thrill of battle didn’t sing in his veins like it did Keith’s. Moving from ‘revered pilot’ to ‘Japanese language instructor’ just didn’t seem like Shiro’s calling, but who was he to judge?

Keith let out a huff as he flipped the blade in his hand, spinning the tip on his finger and watching the glowing sigil as it spun. He looked down over the side of Red’s massive body and caught a glimpse of the Blue Paladin as he darted around a corner, an exhausted Hunk barely keeping up. Keith smiled at the two before feeling his heart sink just a little lower. 

Shiro wasn’t the only one staying behind. Lance and Hunk were finishing their schooling and training. The Garrison had offered to reinstate Keith as well but he’d not-so-politely declined. The last thing he - a fully trained Blade of Marmora Operative and Red Paladin of Voltron - wanted was to become a quiznaking Cadet again. No thank you! The Garrison could stuff it.

The only other one who wasn’t returning to the Garrison in any capacity was Pidge. They’d also received the same offer as Keith and, like Keith, had declined; though more respectfully … but only just. Instead, they insisted on writing an examination (which they not only passed but also corrected) in lieu of resuming their courses. Now a fully graduated Garrison Officer, they were working on advancing Earth’s robotics with the help of Regris who seemed to share a brain cell with the feisty Human. 

Reg had decided to temporarily remain on Earth as the Empire’s representative and to assist in the rebuilding efforts. A sort of “good will” between the Humans and the Galra after all the damage Sendak has caused. Soon the older halfling would be the sole alien on the planet - after Romelle and Matt depart for Altea. 

The dynamic duo were going to be working out of a warehouse in Plaht City and a team of robotics and engineering experts were flying in from around the planet to assist them. A few had already arrived, some excitedly shaking Reg’s hand, others politely greeting their Galran boss but keeping a watchful eye. Keith had rolled his eyes but he honestly couldn’t blame them. Their only exposure to his people had been Sendak and look how that turned out.

Repairing the Galra’s image in the eyes of the Humans was going to be a monumental task but there was no one better for the role than Regris. If anyone could lay the groundwork for the official liaison’s job, it was him.

And that was the key thing, Regris wasn’t the _official_ liaison from the Empire, only a temporary placement until someone more permanent could be selected. He’d only volunteered for the position because of his fondness for Pidge and because the others wanted to return home. 

Krolia and the other Blades were leaving with Keith in the Red Lion. His father had tried to get them to stay but both Keith and Krolia had obligations to their own people. Now that Earth was safe and the last vestiges of the former Empire were destroyed, Thace needed them to return. He needed his second in command back on Central and he’d messaged Krolia to request Keith accompany her since his Uncle had a special task for him. The anticipation of this new adventure was the only thing that kept him from second-guessing his decision. 

It was difficult leaving everyone behind but it would only be for a short while, he’d be back soon enough. The other Paladins may be happy with their families, enjoying the comforts of home for the time being, but sooner or later that song of adventure would sound in their souls, calling them out beyond the stars. Eventually, maybe not for a few years, but inevitably, they would succumb, unable to resist the urge.

He just didn’t know how long that would be.

“You look broodier than usual.” said a familiar voice, pulling him from his thoughts. Keith leaned over the edge of the lion, turning his body to twist around Red’s ear and look down at the Cadet standing on the tarmac. Unfortunately, standing directly below him was one of the biggest reasons he didn’t want to leave so soon. 

Nadia had her arms folded across her front, weight resting on one hip, and a single manicured eyebrow cocked; daring him to challenge her assessment. He let out an amused huff and shrugged, choosing not to say anything, instead he resumed his previous position.

The silence from below dragged for all of 2 seconds before Nadia was huffing, blowing up at her bangs and grumbling under her breath about “pain in the ass secret aliens”. Keith smiled to himself as he listened to his friend try to scramble her way onto Red’s massive paw. 

“Okay, I have no idea how you climbed this thing, but get your traitorous butt down here!”

Keith snickered at her and focused his energy. He felt the familiar rush flood his veins and, in the blink of an eye, he was standing beside her under Red’s belly.

“Ahhh!” She shrieked, jumping backwards and tightly clutching her chest. It took her only a moment to regain her faculties and launch at him in a full-body attack, limbs flailing about as she playfully pummeled his shoulders and chest. All Keith could do was laugh under the unrelenting assault.

“Don’t-” _smack_ “-do that-” _smack_ “-you pain-” _smack_ “-in the ass!!” she laughed between blows. “Seriously; heart attack!” 

“Aww,” he teased back, “you’re gonna miss me.”

“Well, yeah, but don’t pretend you’re not gonna miss me …. Traitor.”

Keith laughed back at her, light and carefree, his previously heavy thoughts temporarily forgotten. “Why am I a traitor?” he chuckled. “Is it cause I’m going home?”

“You’re abandoning us!” She stubbornly insisted, though a playful pout tugged at the corner of her lips. “Who’s gonna help me with the sim runs if you’re off galavanting in space?”

“That doesn’t make me a traitor,” he objected, a fond smile now permanently in place. “more of an … abandon-er-er? Is that a word?”

Nadia shrugged, stepping closer and reaching out her hand to point at Red’s paw. Keith smiled and laced his hands, allowing her to step into them and propel herself upward enough to scramble onto the lion. Once she’d settled, Keith leapt up and sat beside her, a gentle arm wrapping around his back as her head rested on his shoulder. 

“I’m really gonna miss you, Kogane.” She said quietly and Keith hummed.

“Yeah, I’ll miss you too.”

* * *

“Breathe,” he repeated, receiving a grumble of complaints in return. “You will never become a master if you do not first learn to control your own breathing. So _breathe!_ ” 

His postulants groaned in exasperation, but Keith wasn’t letting them off that easy. They’d been doing simple breathing exercises for nearly five vargas but he refused to dismiss _any_ of them until they _all_ learned proper control. Did it create animosity? Yeah, kinda. But it also taught them that they were to be a unit; an extension of one another. 

“Again,” he insisted to another chorus of half-voiced complaints. “Breathe.”

“We’ve _been_ breathing for ages now!” One of his more daring students protested. “Clearly we all know how to breathe or we’d have choked and died long ago! Can’t we move on to something else?”

Keith rose to his feet slowly, letting the long cloak fall around him as he towered above the kneeling kits. Silently he descended the steps of the dais and glided across the large open room towards the group sitting on their heels. Though not a soul dared move, their energy shrank and receded from their more vocal peer, leaving him to metaphorically stand his ground unaided.

This kit was stubborn and bullheaded. He challenged Keith’s authority at every turn and refused to follow orders without first receiving a reasoning that he agreed with. He was naturally gifted and quick learning, leading to an unearned sense of superiority. He made Keith’s life so much more difficult. 

He drove Keith insane.  
He reminded Keith of himself.  
He was secretly Keith’s favourite. 

“Kaezynn,” he said when he reached the group, stopping directly in front of the boy. Keith remained calm, voice carefully void of any emotion yet commanding enough to force them all into silence as they listened to his words. “You are holding back the entire group. No one moves on to the next level until you are _all_ ready. In this Order, we are a single, cohesive unit.”

“Maybe you think that because you’re the only Druid.” 

“ _Kaezynn!”_ He growled in return, the tentative grip on his patience rapidly slipping away. As much as Keith liked this kit, he sure knew how to push his buttons.

“Woah, aren’t you supposed to remain calm? Curb your emotions and whatnot?” The boy’s grin was just _begging_ to be wiped off and Keith was two tics away from giving in and showing him what a fully realized Druid was capable of. Instead, he took a deep breath himself, finding his center, and returned to an (almost) calm voice.

“I’m a Druid, not a Monk. So don’t push me.” He condescendingly replied, fully aware that he was sinking to the other’s level. In his defense, Keith was barely past being a kit himself.

“What’s a Monk?” Kaezynn answered.

* * *

Their lesson went on for another two vargas, Keith refusing to dismiss his tired pupils until _all_ of them completed the proper breathing exercises to his satisfaction. He knew he was being tough, but it was the best way for them to learn and it was the Galran way of teaching. Ms. Drezlia had been far harder on him when he’d been a kit on the Blade’s main base and Ms. Proxa hadn’t even accepted a long term undercover mission as an excuse to not hand in his assignments on time. His postulants either learned it - or they didn’t. He wasn’t here to hold their hands. 

In the end, the only reason he called the lesson to a close was because his mother, the Emperor’s second in command, had sent a messenger down to remind Keith that he was supposed to be on his way to Earth. He hated to let the lesson end on anyone else’s terms but, this was important and it _was_ Krolia’s orders. 

“When I return we will test your breathing control.” He announced, being sure to put plenty of emphasis on the word ‘test’, leaving them with a sense of dread. He liked it that way, just a little fear to help remind them who was in charge. In a moment of pride (and admittedly the desire to show off) Keith summoned a swell of energy to zap himself from the room into the hall, leaving a spectacular explosion of golden lightning in his wake. 

Quickly, Keith made his way towards Red’s hangar. He’d already packed his belongings for the trip and placed them inside the Lion’s cargo hold which saved him the time of detouring to his quarters beforehand.

“Finally,” Krolia growled. “Let’s go.” 

He rolled his eyes at his mother, fully aware that she would not be able to see it under his pointed mask, and approached the Red Lion. It had been far too long since he’d flown her, most of his time now spent training the next order of Druids or in the rooms they were reconstructing into a proper temple. 

It wasn’t like the temples he’d seen in books on Earth; not some ornate sanctuary where believers gathered to worship. No, these were Galran Druid temples. Large, dimly lit, and mostly empty rooms whose air hung heavy with incense emanating from an altar in the very center. They were essentially a much larger version of the mediation rooms - minus all the comfy cushions. 

Or at least they would be once the remodelling was complete. 

A lot of work still needed to be done. Haggar’s poisoned touch had tainted the existing temple rooms beyond use. Her hateful and twisted energy still permeated every inch of the old temples and Keith couldn’t even stomach being inside them, let alone rebuilding the Druidic Order from within those rooms. 

No, they needed a fresh start, a new beginning, one free of Altean influence. Which is why he’d turned down Allura’s offer to assist in purging the old spaces, instead opting to simply scrap them entirely and start from scratch. It was the long way of doing things, he knew that, but he had plenty of time to get it right. 

With the new Order started, kits born with a quintessence sensitivity were slowly coming out of the shadows; their parents no longer fearfully hiding them away. It had taken him a long time to convince the first few families to hand over their child to him, to let him take their precious kit away to Central Command to be trained as a Druid. Many people had told him to change the ceremonial robes they wore, to remove the mask (or at the very least change its design), and develop a new look. But Keith refused.

He refused to change their own culture because some Altean had corrupted it for so long. He refused to let this integral part of who they were as a people die out. He refused to allow Zarkon and Haggar to strip the Galra of any more pieces of their identity. They’d already lost so much.

And so Keith regularly walked the halls of Central Command striking fear in the hearts of the soldiers he passed, proudly wearing his long dark robes and his bone-pale pointed mask. He knew it unnerved them, but in time the mantle of Druid would no longer be a thing of fear but of respect and admiration. Until then, he would just ignore their stares and secretly relish their fear. 

* * *

The trip to Earth was long.

The Red Lion called to the Castle for a wormhole and arrived on Altea mere tics later. There, Keith landed and exited his Lion to the welcoming smile of Coran. In the past few years, Keith hadn’t seen much of the eccentric ginger and that was a crying shame. The moment he cleared the ramp, strong arms wrapped around the entirety of his frame, pulling him into a tight embrace that Keith was eager to return. 

“If you tell the others that I let you hug me, I will zap you.” He warned. 

“A terrifying prospect indeed!” Coran replied, grinning widely at Keith’s admittedly empty threat. “Come along then, her majesty Queen Allura left something for you.”

“Wait -” Keith called, confusion crossing his face and morphing his features into a scowl under his mask. “- I thought I was retrieving Allura.”

“Ahh, right. Well. Not anymore. I did try to inform you but was told you were breathing - a very important task if I do say so myself - and since stopping one from breathing can be quite dangerous, I thought it best not to interrupt.” 

Keith gaped at the man for several tics, utterly dumbfounded, before bursting out into laughter. _Stars_ , he’d really missed this. 

Inside the castle was a note from _Queen_ Allura. It read that she had gone to Earth in the Green Lion with Pidge who’d arrived to collect Matt and Romelle. Keith was to take Coran with him as well as a gift from Altea to the Galaxy Garrison to celebrate the launch of their first ship capable of traveling between galaxies and withstanding the forces in a wormhole. 

It was a monumental step forward for Humanity. Finally, after three long deca-phoebs since the defeat of Sendak, Earth was able to join the Intergalactic Federation without the aid of a Voltron Lion. Keith was proud of the Humans, after all he was partly Human himself. 

After a varga of waiting for Coran to pack the rest of his belongings and load up the frankly absurd gift from Altea, the Red Lion was ready for launch. The Altean Bandor opened a wormhole for them and Keith took a deep breath as they headed for what was technically his home planet.

* * *

Red took her place beside her siblings, touching down next to the Blue Lion. On the platform waiting for their arrival was none other than Queen Allura of Altea, Officer Shirogane, and another officer that Keith didn’t recognize. 

The unknown officer was slightly shorter than Shiro but slimmer, with tanned skin and a relaxed posture. He stood at the forefront of the group, anxiously looking around. Keith couldn’t blame him, it wasn’t every day that Galra came to Earth and even though the other Lions were mostly stationed here, the Red Lion hadn’t been back since the planet’s liberation. 

The Garrison’s bright orange particle barrier closed the gap it had opened for their arrival and Keith stepped down the ramp with Krolia tightly flanking him. A loud and dramatic gasp was heard from the group as they approached, even Shiro went pale and rigid briefly before schooling his expression and forcing a smile.

Keith begrudgingly removed his pointed mask, pulling it down and offering a sheepish smile as Krolia came to stand beside him, hand on his shoulder.

“It’s so good to see you again, Keith.” Shiro said. But just as Keith was about to reply the unknown officer stepped forward.

“WHAT??? Wait just a hot second!” He screeched. “How do we know you’re the _real_ Keith and not his bigger, cooler, grizzled older brother??”

“Huh?’ Keith replied, confused. Who was this guy? “I don’t have a brother.” He answered, arms folding across his chest in annoyance. “Who are you anyway?” he finished, still not able to match the annoyingly familiar voice with the unfamiliar build and uniform. 

“Who - who am I?” he gasped. “Oh, we are _not_ doing this again! Keith, you asshole how dare you forget me!” 

Realization dawned harshly, slapping Keith across the head as Lance removed his cap. Honestly, how had he not recognized the Blue Paladin? On second thought, now that he looked closer it was easy to see how he’d been confused. Lance wasn’t much taller, but he had filled out some and was more self-assured in his body posture, not to mention the Officer’s uniform and hat he was sporting. Keith smiled as he moved closer to the group, Coran brushing past him to hug Allura, and Krolia hanging back.

“It’s good to see you guys.” He said honestly, echoing Shiro’s earlier sentiment. He moved to hug Shiro, wrapping around the older man easily now that they were the same height. “Lance.” He smirked, offering an embrace to his friend and watching Coran grin over Allura’s shoulder.

“You got taller too? How is this possible?” Lance whined.

“I’m Galra, Lance. You didn’t seriously think I’d stay the height of a child forever did you?” Smirking Keith pushed past him, making his way towards the Garrison’s main building, but not before he caught a mumbled “yeah kinda” fall from Lance’s lips.

In the three years since Voltron had defeated Sendak, the Texas Campus had become the primary hub for the Galaxy Garrison International. Much growth had been seen here with satellite buildings being erected on the grounds surrounding the original, primary building. The Particle barrier had been extended, and its size increased, to accommodate the added floors and structures. 

Many of the Commanders and Officers responsible for the liberation had received commendations from their respective governments with some even being promoted because of it. As they walked towards the primary building, Shiro explained some of the command line changes that had taken place during Keith’s absence. Commander Iverson, now _Admiral_ Iverson, was heading a new training academy just outside of Plaht city. Though it was only a 20 minute drive away from the main campus, this new location would be solely used for training future crew members of Earth’s newest pride and joy.

The IGF-Atlas would be making its debut in just a few days and Keith would be lying if he said he wasn’t a teeny tiny bit excited to see the ship. All four Holts had been working endlessly on its design and concept for nearly a year. Matt and Romelle had temporarily moved back to Earth to join on the project and they’d even gone so far as to bring in Regris and Coran as advisors on occasion. Because of this, the finished ship boasted certain aesthetic elements that were particularly Altean in design, and engine capabilities that resembled the Castle of Lions. The Atlas also came equipped with various weapon designs taken straight from Empire Battle Cruisers, including an ion cannon. 

But the main feature taken from the Empire Ships was the fighter-pod docks. Four newer, faster, more advanced remodels of the MFE fighter jets would be permanently stationed on-board the Atlas. The originals used to fight against Sendak would soon be the test ships new recruits practiced in. 

It was a little strange coming back to Earth this time. So much had changed.

The first time Keith had returned to Earth he’d been an undercover alien operative masquerading as a Cadet on a planet that hadn’t even confirmed the existence of life beyond their tiny pocket of the universe. And now, Earth was a legitimate member of the Intergalactic Federation with their own Galaxy traversing ship set to launch in only a few days' time. All of this growth and change had happened in less than a decade. 

It really was impressive.

* * *

His room at the Galaxy Garrison was on one of the newly added floors and offered a truly spectacular view of the horizon. Yet some things never changed and Keith abandoned his quarters to sit on the roof edge, staring out at the expanse of stars twinkling in the night sky. Dinner had been a quick affair, nothing too flashy, just a simple buffet in the main cafeteria. Tomorrow was the big graduation banquet and ceremony where Lance and Hunk would be announced as Officers McClain and Garrett. The following day was the scheduled launch of the IGF-Atlas. 

Originally he had intended to come sooner allowing him to stay on Earth a little longer, however that turned out not to be the case. His postulants needed instruction and the fact that Keith had thought for even a spare tic that he could sneak away early for a little vacation had been laughable in retrospect.

“Man, you can be a real hard guy to find when you wanna be” Lance’s voice sounded from behind him and Keith smiled, turning his head to greet his friend.

“Hey, Lance - WOAH! What are you wearing?” He gaped, the final words spilling over a chuckle he’d tried (and failed) to contain. In Lance’s hair were pink, blue, yellow, and green barrettes. On his face was a smear of cherry red lipstick with twin globs of glitter on each cheek. His eyes were a very, _very,_ bold cyan blended poorly with a frankly radioactive looking green. He looked like a disaster. He looked hilarious.

“Oh, this? My niece and nephew wanted me to look handsome for my graduation tomorrow.” he chuckled, throwing his arms out wide and adding a cocky “Whatcha think?” 

Keith laughed at the display. “Dude, I’m a literal alien. Don’t come to me for fashion advice or you might end up walking around with, I don’t know, a quiznaking saucepan on your head or something.”

Lance plopped down beside him with a hearty chuckle, lightly punching his shoulder, and settling in to stare at the constellations. “Did you watch the sunset?” He asked, voice low so as not to ruin the peaceful atmosphere. Keith nodded, keeping his eyes trained on the Big Dipper.

“I think it’s what I miss most about being planet-side, you know? No sunsets on Central Command. Or stargazing for that matter.” 

Lance hummed his agreement, not saying anything but instead losing himself to his own thoughts, much like Keith. They sat there for a while, not a word being exchanged between them as more and more faintly twinkling lights appeared.

Keith let himself collapse, falling backwards onto the warm concrete of the roof and repeatedly kicking his feet against the side of the building. After a beat, he turned his head to look at the back of Lance’s. “So what are you going to do now that you’ve graduated, _Officer McClain_?” He teased.

Lance chuckled. He continued staring off into the desert, not bothering to turn around and face Keith as he replied with a shrug. “I have a few options. But, I don’t know, man. I’ve always wanted to be a pilot, you know? It’s just, lately, there’s something else that’s been calling to me.”

“In my experience, it’s best to answer those calls, Lance” Keith replied, sitting up to face his friend properly. 

“Yeah, you might be right,” he mumbled, the words seeming more for himself than Keith. But Keith wasn’t one to be deterred so easily and decided to push, to press Lance into opening up and sharing what he _truly_ wanted to say. Because while the Blue Paladin seemed like an open book, when it came to the things that really mattered he tended to lock them up. 

“Lance, hey - look at me.” Lance turned his head, albeit reluctantly, to face Keith with a concerned brow lift. “Whatever options you’re debating, whatever choices are being offered to you - as long as you end up happy you’ll have made the right decision. Just remember that.” 

“There’s just so much pressure you know? Like _mis padres_ want me to come home to Cuba and stay on the farm with the family and take care of kaltenecker, at least for a year or two. The Garrison wants me to help train the new Altas crew and fly missions in Blue. _Pero_ , I know Allura really wants at least one of the Paladins to continue doing Paladin duties and like, Pidge isn’t going to and neither is Hunk, and Shiro is the new Captain of the Atlas, and you're off doing space-wizard stuff. So I guess that just leaves me. And-”

“Lance-”

“-I don’t want to say no to anyone because all the options have their appeals, you know? _Osea_ , I could really use some downtime and just relax on Varadero and spend some quality time with my _familia_. But-”

“-Lance-”

“-I also really want to teach. I feel like I’d be a great teacher. I’m really attentive to other people’s needs, I’m patient, I’m super knowledgeable about the topics, and I’m like, really good at knowing when someone needs me for something, you know? -”

“-Omg, _Lance-_ ”

“-I think I could really make a difference. But continuing with my Paladin duties will also make a difference and Allura’s right - _Osea_ , of course she’s right, she’s a beautiful, magical, space QUEEN - but maintaining Voltron’s presence, even just with one Lion, will hold the Federation together. Knowing that Voltron is still there will help keep support and I can continue to meet new aliens, learn more about them, help people -”

“-LANCE!!!!!”

“-like I’ve always wanted to. _Es que ... quiero ayudar a la gente._ ” Lance paused in his ramblings to stare at Keith for a moment as if he’d forgotten anyone else was even there and he’d merely been talking to himself this whole time. “What dude?”

“Will. You. Stop. Talking!”

“Oh, uh, sorry,” Lance said, turning to sheepishly gaze out at the night sky.

“You don’t need to apologize. Look, I’m no good at this -”

“At what?” Lance interrupted, turning back to face Keith once again.

Keith gestured vaguely around them, “-this, Lance. Words and shit.” Lance chuckled at his eloquent delivery but allowed Keith to continue. “I’m not Allura or Shiro, I can’t make this sound all pretty for you but I just want you to know that it doesn’t matter which option you choose because you’ll do amazing at all of them …. Except the farm. Go home for like a month or so and visit - then go off on whatever adventure calls the loudest. You can always go home again, your family isn’t going anywhere, but opportunities like these only come around once in a lifetime; don’t miss yours.”

In the blink of an eye, there were long arms wrapping around him, pulling Keith closer and squeezing tight. Naturally, he panicked. “Lance? Lance - what are you doing?” He shrieked, trying to push away.

“Shhh, Keith. Just let it happen.” Lance whispered in his ear with a slight chuckle. “We’re having a bonding moment.”

Keith gasped, immediately teleporting himself out of Lance’s embrace to stand on the rooftop behind him. “I quiznaking _knew_ you remembered! Lance, you asshole!”

* * *

The graduation ceremony was a huge ordeal. Keith had been told to bring formal clothes for the event but had absolutely no idea what that meant. Was he supposed to wear a suit and tie? Formal Galran attire? His High Priest robes to denote his rank or status or whatever? Who knows - not Keith, that’s for sure. 

To cover all his bases Keith decided to wear a black suit with a black button-up shirt and a thin red tie _underneath_ his Druid robes. This way he could quickly switch if needed. Quite frankly it was a brilliant plan and well executed at that. Krolia had declined Garrison accommodations in favour of staying with Kolt in the cabin …. which is precisely the reason Keith had _accepted_ the room at the Garrison. Because of this, he did not know what his Galra mother would be wearing to the ceremony and was thankful for his backup plan when he saw his parents arrive.

Kolton Kogane was donning an earthy brown suit with a crisp white shirt and matching brown tie. The tie boasted a finely detailed gold pattern with a shining gold clip attached to the side. Hanging on his arm was Krolia in a mid-length gold dress that sparkled as the light reflected off the intricate stitching. The dress was sleeveless and came high against her collarbone, fitting tight to her body. The contrast of brightly glittering gold against her rich purple skin looked spectacular.

Quickly Keith zapped himself back to his room, discarding his robes and returning to the party in a puff of golden smoke; having only been gone for 5 tics at most. A few guests were awed by his sudden reappearance, others gasped in alarm, but Keith merely smirked in pride as he weaved his way through the crowd to join his mother and father. 

They sat at their assigned table, near the back of the room given they had no family participating in the ceremony, and were shortly joined by Allura and Coran. Much to his discontent, Keith found himself stuck between his father and the eccentric Altean. The two men continually leaned across the table throughout the entire dinner, pressing Keith into the back of his chair as they spoke across his plate. Eventually, he got frustrated enough that he’d snapped, saying in a rather harsh tone “just sit beside each other and leave me out of this.” before pushing away from the table and forcibly switching seats with Coran.

As the night progressed, the number of empty wine bottles on their table increased. Allura had moved from her seat to sit beside Krolia in a move that stunned Keith at first. However, after overhearing a mere two tics of their conversation he had to admit he was not at all surprised. Over a glass of wine and a plate of food the two women (both leaders of their people) discussed the goings-on of the Intergalactic Federation, the progress Thace’s Empire was making, the cultural restoration of the Galra, and the rebuilding of Altea. Keith zoned them out.

The Garrison’s graduation ceremony was organized by class and division. The Engineering courses came first starting with communications, followed by mechanical, then the rest. After Engineering came the smaller, more specialized fields such as botany, weapon designs, and history, as well as military strategy. Next came the long list of various vague science degrees like chemistry, physics, and biology; degrees that required continued study in a specified field after graduation. 

Finally, after all other Cadets had crossed the platform, the last and most prestigious division would be called: Piloting. The piloting program was the pride and joy of the Texas location and was the program they were best known for. It was the whole reason Keith could say he chose to come all the way to Texas from Denmark to study for the sole purpose of becoming a pilot. The Texas program only accepted the most promising Cadets and produced the best of the best Earth had to offer. The fighter pilots that came from this base were world-renowned in their skills. Record setters such as Kolton Kogane and Takashi Shirogane to name a few. 

By the end of the night, Keith was wiped. He couldn’t handle sitting at the table any longer, though the distraction of Pidge pulling outside for a “smoke break” was much appreciated. They stood out on the tarmac for a few minutes for some much needed fresh air as they talked about how stuffy it was inside and how much they hated it - then turned around and went right back in. But it didn’t matter how stuffy it was or how horribly formal the whole affair turned out to be, because ultimately Keith was there to cheer on and celebrate his friends. Hunk, Lance, Ina, and Nadia were all graduating this evening and he couldn’t be more proud of them.

Tomorrow both Ina and Nadia were slotted to join the Atlas crew as one half of the MFE squad, the other half being Ryan Kincade and James Griffin who were also graduating that night. Hunk already had his future planned out and Lance had excitedly pulled Keith aside after the ceremony to announce that he’d accepted the offer to teach ‘Alien Cultural Studies’ at the Garrison. He’d said it with such enthusiasm, gushing about how it was a part-time position that required him to be located at the Texas campus for the first term of each school year, after which he was free to continue his Paladin duties and visit his family. 

Keith was happy for him, for all of them! By the time he made it back to his room he didn’t even have the energy to change out of his suit, instead collapsing on his bed and falling asleep fully dressed. Shoes and all.

* * *

The launch of the IGF-Atlas was pretty similar to the launch of the Kerberos mission. The same slimy reporter lurked around asking far-too-personal questions as a photographer set up shop to commemorate the event. Upper Command gave a political speech, Shiro said a few heartfelt words, and Admiral Sanda smashed a Champagne bottle against the side of the ship. The crowd cheered and Coran mourned the loss of the alcohol as it sprayed over the asphalt. 

The crew loaded the ship one by one as their names and ranks were announced, waving excitedly at the gathered crowd as they climbed the ramp. With just over 2,000 crew members the line was exhaustedly long. Keith thanked the Ancients that he didn’t have to wear a suit today and instead had opted for his Druid robes, allowing him to pull up the hood and escape the hot Texas sun. He tucked the mask in his sleeve, choosing not to wear it for the launch. 

The last to enter the ship were the MFE pilots, followed by upper Command, and finally Captain Shirogane. Keith waved excitedly from the crowd, watching the Captain board his vessel hand in hand with Lieutenant Warren. 

* * *

The four remaining Voltron Lions sat proudly on the landing strip out front of the Garrison; Red & Blue to the left and Green & Yellow to the right. In the middle lay a giant gaping hole where Black had been, the Lion now residing in a docking bay onboard the IGF-Atlas. 

The Paladins had all promised that this would not be the end of Voltron. Should the legendary defender be needed, each and everyone of them would drop their other obligations to join together. No matter what happened, no matter where life took them, they were all still connected to each other through their Lions; Allura included. At Lance’s insistence, an annual reunion was planned. Each one of them would take their turn to play host, ensuring the team never lost touch. 

At this time next deca-phoeb, they would all be gathered on Altea for their first reunion. The following year would be on the Atlas with Shiro, then Central Command with Keith, ending in three consecutive years on Earth. He was looking forward to it, to sharing a year’s worth of updates and adventures with his friends, though he hoped he’d get to see them more often than that.

Keith sat on the edge of the Garrison’s roof back in his safe space, the one place he could always retreat to when things became just a little too much. This time however, he wasn’t hiding from social obligations, or fleeing the anxiety of being a lone alien at a military school, or even just avoiding the general chaos of the Garrison. No, this time he was watching what could very well be the last Earth sunset he would see for a long while. 

On either side was the open desert, spanning into the distance and beyond his view as it dipped below the horizon. Behind him were the solar panels lining the rooftop and the heavy metal door propped open with a loose piece of steel that led back inside the Garrison. Above him were the recently added additional floors and the room he’d just vacated. But in front of him was a magnificent view of the sun setting behind the mountainous outcropping. 

The Earth was on fire above him; vibrant reds, rich oranges, and spectacular yellows painting the sky in a brilliant display of colour. Keith lay back on the hot concrete of the roof, leaving his feet dangling over the edge of the large building as he stared at the mosaic above him. How long would it be before he was back? How long before he would get to see this sight again? 

_‘Too long’_ a part of him supplied, and as much as he missed his home, his _real_ home, he knew he’d miss this one too. He hadn’t been on Earth all that long, but it had somehow become a part of him. Maybe it was because he’d been born on this planet, in this desert, of this species. Or maybe it was just because of his dad and the friends he’d made here. 

Leaving Earth meant leaving Nadia and Ina, it meant leaving Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro, but most importantly it meant leaving this part of himself behind. 

Back on the castle ship, after a long movie night which now felt like eons ago, he’d said he had no intentions of staying on Earth, that this planet didn’t feel like home to him. But that just wasn’t true anymore. “Home is where the heart is” as the Humans say and Keith can honestly agree that a part of this planet will forever live in his heart and that a part of his heart will forever live on this planet. But did that mean he _belonged_ here? No, he had important work to do, he had obligations to uphold, but most importantly - his home really was out amongst the stars. He didn’t belong rooted to a planet, he never would, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to miss it.

In theory, leaving should be easier this time. He’d already said goodbye and watched his friends depart. Nadia, Ina, and Shiro were off on the Atlas. Allura, Coran, and Matt had all returned to Altea. Lance was in Cuba visiting family and Hunk had gone home to Samoa for the same reason. With the completion and launch of the IGF-Atlas, Pidge and Regris (who had opted to stay on Earth) were once again returning to their robotics lab.

Even his father was planning to leave the planet, having been offered the position of official Earth representative to the Galra Empire. A role he no doubt received with _heavy_ pressure from Krolia. Keith knew Kolt was terrified to leave, he’d never actually been off planet before and now he was actively choosing to live amongst another species so very different from his own. But like Keith the call to adventure sang in his spirit and he knew the man would be just fine.

For someone who had once claimed to hate space, Kolton Kogane hadn’t hesitated for one second to follow the people he loved.

Keith let out a heavy exhale as he watched the last vestiges of light fade over the horizon with the setting sun. The stars twinkled to life in the dark night sky and the moon, large and full, shone brightly down; washing him in silver. 

He didn’t know how long he lay here; the sun-kissed concrete had already begun to cool some time ago. But Keith couldn’t bring himself to say goodbye to this place just yet. He needed a little more time - just another hour or two … maybe a day. He needed to capture the feel of the breeze, the smell of the desert air, and the pressure of the natural gravity in his mind and memories so that later, when he was alone on Central Command, he could remember this place and the home he had found here.


End file.
